President Barack Obama emphasized his desire to bridge the divide between Republicans and Democrats Wednesday in his first press conference after the Tuesday elections that cost his party at least 60 seats in the House of Representatives.
“What yesterday… told us is that no one party will be able to dictate where we go from here, that we must find common ground in order to set &- in order to make progress on some uncommonly difficult challenges,” Obama said. “I’m not suggesting this will be easy. I won’t pretend that we will be able to bridge every difference or solve every disagreement. There’s a reason we have two parties in this country.”
The president also said that he congratulated Republican John Boehner, who may become the next speaker of the House, and Republican Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader.
During his speech, Obama took some responsibility for the Republican election victories on Tuesday, acknowledging that people wanted to be able to see more of a change occurring.
“People are frustrated &- they’re deeply frustrated,” he said. “Over the last two years, we’ve made progress. But, clearly, too many Americans haven’t felt that progress yet, and they told us that yesterday. And as president, I take responsibility for that.”
Obama also emphasized the need to be able to work across party lines in order to accomplish goals and make a difference.
“Well, I think John Boehner and I and Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are going to have to sit down and work together,” Obama said. “They [the American people] just want to make sure that we’re making progress. And that’s going to be my top priority over the next couple of years.”
The president said that one reason he believed people were frustrated was that as the government tried to accomplish its goals, he had to “sign a bunch of bills that had earmarks in them.”
This, he said, seemed to many as just an extension of the Bush administration.
“My understanding is Eric Cantor today said that he wanted to see a moratorium on earmarks continuing. That’s something I think we can. . .work on together,” Obama said.
Cantor is a Republican congressman from Virginia who is expected to become majority leader.
When asked what he would be willing to compromise on, Obama cited the issue of energy.
“I think there are a lot of Republicans that ran against the energy bill that passed in the House last year,” he said. “And so it’s doubtful that you could get the votes to pass that through the House this year or next year or the year after.”
“But that doesn’t mean there isn’t agreement that we should have a better energy policy,” he added. “And so, let’s find those areas where we can agree.”
At a press conference earlier in the day, Boehner said Republicans planned to hit the ground running.
“We’re humbled by the trust that the American people have placed in us,” he said. “We’ve got a big job ahead of us. That’s why you will see us roll up our sleeves and go to work today.”
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