President Barack Obama addressed the issue of same-sex marriage, the economy and JP Morgan Chase during an appearance on ABC’s “The View."

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But the ladies of "The View" started off light with the president. 

"Number one: Which Karadashian was married for only 72 days?" asked co-host Joy Behar.

Then, came the hard-hitting questions.

When asked if he would personally fight to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, he replied, "Well, look, Congress is clearly on notice that I think it's a bad idea."

Days ago, Obama announced he believes gay couples should be able to marry, but on the show, he wouldn’t say whether he would push for a repeal of the federal law that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman.

"My justice department had said to the courts, 'we don't think the defense of marriage act is constitutional,' Obama said.

President Obama certainly seemed to win over the studio audience during his appearance on ABC's The View Tuesday, even sharing what his own daughters, Malia and Sasha, think of him.

“You are just the right amount of embarrassing,” he says. “You're embarrassing, but not too embarrassing.”

The president also talked about the recent $2 billion blunder by banking giant JP Morgan Chase and the issue of wall street reform.

Obama touted his efforts to improve the economy, but also acknowledged that the current state of the economy - could cost him the election.

“It's a tough environment and people say, ‘I like the president, I think he's trying hard but there's still a lot of problems in my life’ and that means that they're going to take a look at all the options and that's how democracy should work,” he says.

The president is trying to sure up core Democratic voters, including women, gays and Lesbians.

A new poll by the Pew Research Center found that about half of those surveyed say Obama's support for same-sex marriage does not affect their opinion of the president, with about one-fourth saying they feel less favorably toward him and 19 percent feeling more favorably.

There was a big disparity between older and younger adults surveyed, indicating a more intensely negative reaction among older Americans.

Forty-two percent of people over the age of 65 said they viewed the president less favorably because of his decision, while 62 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 said Obama's announcement did not affect their opinion.

Meanwhile, his likely Republican rival, Mitt Romney, heads to the state of Iowa Tuesday where he is expected to try to change the focus of this race from gay marriage back to the economy.

"Those issues, by virtue of the president's change of view on this topic, has become more current today,” Romney said. “How important it is to the people a few months from now, time will tell."  

Obama, who took a quick pop culture quiz during an appearance Tuesday on ABC's "The View," drew a blank when asked to name "the controversial sex book that's on millions of women's bedside tables."

"I'll ask Michelle when I get home," he promised, to hoots of laughter from the audience. Obama did better with TV and celebrity trivia. 

He's seen "The Avengers," and was able to name three superheroes: Hulk, Captain America and Ironman. And he knew that View participant Sherri Shepard had been on "Dancing with the Stars."

He didn't know whether Jessica Simpson had had her baby. (She had a girl earlier this month.)

Obama said he catches up with TV shows like "Mad Men" and "Homeland" on long flights such as trips to Afghanistan, when there's time to study his briefing books and still have hours left over.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.