After midterm votes, Obama vows to work ‘with, without, Congress’
7 Nov 2014 5:46 AM IST
In a sign of how he intends to govern under a new political order with ascendant Republican leaders, Obama renewed his commitment to act on his own to allow millions of undocumented immigrants to stay in the country.
His remarks, at a news conference in the East Room of the White House, were meant to put the vitriol of the campaign behind him - he responded to disaffected Americans by saying that ‘I hear you’’ and that his election mandate was to ‘get stuff done.’ But his promised action on immigration underscored the profound partisan disagreements that persist in Washington.
Republicans quickly accused the president of reaching out to them with one hand while slapping them with the other. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a Republican who is line to be the majority leader in the new Congress, warned Obama in a news conference in Louisville not to act on immigration on his own. ‘It’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull,’ McConnell said.
The back-and-forth came on a grim day at the White House after an election that cost the Democrats the Senate and called into question the president’s capacity to accomplish much of substance for his remaining time in office. For all the talk of cooperation, Obama confronted the reality that gridlock may still rule Washington, curtailing his legacy and frustrating his lofty ambitions.
Obama seemed determined not to let the setback consume what is left of his presidency.
Relentlessly cheerful during his afternoon news conference, Obama congratulated Republicans on their election success and offered words of conciliation. But he volunteered little regret or a sense that he needed to change course.
‘It doesn’t make me mopey, it energizes me, because it means that this democracy’s working,’ Obama said of his party’s defeat. He struck a carefully upbeat tone, declining to ‘read the tea leaves’ of the election or to be baited into giving it a name, along the lines of the ‘shellacking’ he said his party had taken in the 2010 congressional elections.
Still, he noted that Republicans had had a ‘good night,’ and conceded that he was responsible for allaying the concerns of Americans who have become convinced that Washington is dysfunctional and unresponsive to their needs.
‘As president, they rightly hold me accountable to do more to make it work properly,’ Obama said.
His remarks, at a news conference in the East Room of the White House, were meant to put the vitriol of the campaign behind him - he responded to disaffected Americans by saying that ‘I hear you’’ and that his election mandate was to ‘get stuff done.’ But his promised action on immigration underscored the profound partisan disagreements that persist in Washington.
Republicans quickly accused the president of reaching out to them with one hand while slapping them with the other. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a Republican who is line to be the majority leader in the new Congress, warned Obama in a news conference in Louisville not to act on immigration on his own. ‘It’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull,’ McConnell said.
The back-and-forth came on a grim day at the White House after an election that cost the Democrats the Senate and called into question the president’s capacity to accomplish much of substance for his remaining time in office. For all the talk of cooperation, Obama confronted the reality that gridlock may still rule Washington, curtailing his legacy and frustrating his lofty ambitions.
Obama seemed determined not to let the setback consume what is left of his presidency.
Relentlessly cheerful during his afternoon news conference, Obama congratulated Republicans on their election success and offered words of conciliation. But he volunteered little regret or a sense that he needed to change course.
‘It doesn’t make me mopey, it energizes me, because it means that this democracy’s working,’ Obama said of his party’s defeat. He struck a carefully upbeat tone, declining to ‘read the tea leaves’ of the election or to be baited into giving it a name, along the lines of the ‘shellacking’ he said his party had taken in the 2010 congressional elections.
Still, he noted that Republicans had had a ‘good night,’ and conceded that he was responsible for allaying the concerns of Americans who have become convinced that Washington is dysfunctional and unresponsive to their needs.
‘As president, they rightly hold me accountable to do more to make it work properly,’ Obama said.
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