White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs called the last month of Congress a time of bipartisanship, attributing the large amount of legislation pushed through in the lame duck session to Democrats and Republicans coming together to get things done for the American people.
“I think,” Gibbs told Candy Crowley Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” “everyone put aside politics and partisan interests to put forward what was best for the American people.”
Reiterating similar statements President Obama made earlier in the week, Gibbs said that “there was a responsibility of government that, I think, the Republicans got in the November elections and they began to understand that responsibility a little bit more in this lame duck than they had in the previous, quite frankly, 18 or so months.”
“They can’t afford any longer to just simply sit and say no,” he continued. “They have to be part of a constructive conversation, and I think that’s what exactly what happened.”
Gibbs ended on what Crowley called an “optimistic” note, calling on 2011 to be a year of bipartisanship, not a year focused on 2012 presidential electioneering.
“There will be plenty of time for an election in 2012 and for elections beyond,” he said. “Let’s resolve to make 2011 a year in which both political parties can put aside future political gains and decide to concentrate on what’s best for the American people.”