Washington (CNN) As Republican presidential candidates lay into his record, President Barack Obama on Wednesday chalked up the attacks to expected election-year politics but said there was "nothing particularly patriotic" about their rhetoric.

"Despite the perennial doom and gloom that I guess is inevitably part of a presidential campaign, America is winning right now," Obama said at a meeting of the Business Roundtable in Washington. "America is great right now. We can do even better."

He cited job creation, the rising stock market and millions of Americans who now have health insurance as examples of a successful presidential run.

"You wouldn't know any of this if you were listening to the folks seeking this office that I occupy," the President told the group of American chief executives.