Western, central and northern Minnesota under windy, dry weather conditions 

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support


      WASHINGTON (AP) - A chastened President Barack Obama signaled a
willingness to compromise with Republicans on tax cuts and energy
policy Wednesday, one day after his party lost control of the House
and suffered deep Senate losses in midterm elections.


      Obama ruefully called the Republican victories "a
shellacking."


      At a White House news conference, the president said that when
Congress returns, "my goal is to make sure we don't have a huge
spike in taxes for middle class families." He made no mention of
his campaign-long insistence that tax cuts be permitted to expire
on upper-income families, a position he said would avoid swelling
the deficit but put him in conflict with Republicans.


      He also virtually abandoned his legislation - hopelessly stalled
in the Senate - featuring economic incentives to reduce carbon
emissions from power plants, vehicles and other sources.


      "I'm going to be looking for other means of addressing this
problem," he said. "Cap and trade was just one way of skinning
the cat," he said, strongly implying there will be others.


      In the campaign, Republicans slammed the bill as a "national
energy tax" and jobs killer, and numerous Democrats sought to
emphasize their opposition to the measure during their own
re-election races.


      The president opened his post-election news conference by saying
voters who felt frustrated by the sluggish pace of economic
recovery had dictated the Republican takeover in the House.


      Asked to reflect on the returns, he said, "I feel bad," adding
that many Democrats who went down to defeat had done so knowing
they risked their careers to support his agenda of economic
stimulus legislation and a landmark health care bill.


      The president said he was eager to sit down with the leaders of
both political parties "and figure out how we can move forward
together."


      "It won't be easy," he said, noting the two parties differ
profoundly in some key areas.


      One controversial issue, the president said he saw a possibility
that Congress might agree to overturn the military's ban on openly
gay service members when lawmakers return to the Capitol for a
post-election session later this month.


      The election was a humbling episode for the once-high-flying
president, and the change showed during his news conference.
Largely absent were his smiles and buoyant demeanor, replaced by
somberness and an acknowledgment that his policies may have
alienated some Americans.


      "I think people started looking at all this, and it felt as if
government was getting much more intrusive into people's lives than
they were accustomed to," he conceded. But he wasn't talking
surrender either.


      He sought to tread a careful line, suggesting he would cooperate
with Republicans where it was possible and confront them when it
was not.


      "No one party will be able to dictate where we go from here,"
he said, a clear warning to Republicans that he won't simply bow to
their demands for a sharply conservative switch in economic policy.


      With his comments, Obama largely followed the lead of Republican
leaders who said earlier in the day they were willing to compromise
- within limits.


      With unemployment at 9.6 percent, both the president and the
Republicans will be under pressure to compromise. Yet neither must
lose faith with core supporters - the Republicans with the tea
party activists who helped them win power, Obama with the voters
whose support he will need in 2012.


      The president said the economy had begun a recovery since he
took office but Americans became wary when they saw government
bailouts of failing banks and two of the Big Three U.S. automakers.


      Many Republicans campaigned by calling for repeal of the health
care legislation Obama won from Congress, but the president said
repeal was a nonstarter.

      "If Republicans have some ideas" for cutting costs of health
care or making other changes in the bill, he said he would be glad
to take a look.


      "There are going to be some examples of where we can tweak and
make progress," he said. "But I don't think if you ask the
American people, `should we stop trying to close the doughnut hole
that helps seniors get prescription drugs, should we go back to
where people with pre-existing conditions can't get health
insurance' ... I don't think you'd have a strong vote from people
saying, 'Those are provisions I want to eliminate."'


      Famously unemotional in public, Obama was asked whether he needs
to change his leadership style, and he responded: "When you're in]
this place, it is hard not to seem removed."


      He said he needs to do more "to ensure I'm getting out of
here." He also pointed out that "a couple of great
communicators" - Reagan and Clinton - also stood at the podium two
years into their presidencies "getting very similar questions."


      Actually, Clinton's electoral comeuppance was worse. Republicans
won both the House and Senate at his first midterm, but he
recovered to win re-election two years later.


      Republicans lost seats in Congress at Reagan's first midterm
election in 1982 but never had a House majority to lose, and kept
control of the Senate for four more years.
      

Gallery

Republican surge takes down Oberstar

Dayton not declaring victory in governor's race

FAQ: What would a gubernatorial recount look like?

Minn. incumbents head back to a very different Congress

Hennepin County glitch was main polling issue

A long election night for supporters

Politics and Government News

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that
voters frustrated by the pace of economic recovery dictated a
Republican takeover of the House in midterm elections, adding, "As
president I take responsibility" for a failure to restore job
growth more quickly.

Obama signals compromise with GOP on tax cuts

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox