President Barack Obama isn’t going to change his policies or his staff, despite the midterm O’bliteration that swept the GOP into the Senate, numerous governorships and state houses around the nation.
He declined to promise any staffing changes or trim his progressive goals during a painful Nov. 5 press conference in the White House’s East Room.
Instead of changing his priorities, he said he would push ahead with his planned unilateral amnesty for illegals, and he would only support GOP-priorities that match his priorities.
“Let’s get started on those things we agree [on] 70, 80, 90 percent,” he said.
“Then if that works, that will give the American people more confidence that their government is looking after them,” he said to the room packed with reporters, videocameras, and still-photographers.
“I am open to working with them on the issues where they think there is going to be cooperation,” he said.
But he also promised to implement his still-vague executive amnesty, despite GOP opposition and polls showing three-to-one opposition to his immigration policies.
“Before the end of the year, we will take whatever lawful actions that I can take,” he said.
“But what I’m not going to do is just wait” for the GOP to pass an immigration bill, Obama continued.
Obama also used his repeated promise of executive action as a threat, saying it should “spur” the GOP to pass a “comprehensive immigration reform” bill that he likes.
“I think it is safe to say I’ve shown a lot of patience,” he said, adding that an immigration-rewrite is his top second-term legislative priority.
Throughout the press conference, Obama touted his issues — college loans, minimum-wage increases, more infrastructure spending, more foreign trade — and ignored GOP issues, such as reduced government spending, reform of Obamacare, and reforms of government agencies.
In 2010, Obama described his historic loss a “shellacking.” That admission implied that he would try to move towards the center.
President Bill Clinton moved to the center after his 1994 defeat.
President George W. Bush fired top officials after his “thumpin” in 2006.
But Obama didn’t give any ground after his O’bliteration, and said only that the GOP “had a good night.”
“To everyone who voted, I hear you,” he stated at the outset of the press conference.
He combined that token act of modesty with a complaint that his supporters didn’t turn out at the polls.
“To two-thirds of the voters who choose not the participate, I hear you too,” he said.
He suggested that his defeat was caused by legislative gridlock, rather than the unpopularity of his goals.
“The American people overwhelmingly believe this town does not work well… they rightly hold me accountable to make it work properly,” Obama opined.
At the start of the event, he read out a short statement, aided by his usual two telepompters.
Before Obama’s address, those two teleprompters set the funeral tone for the event, by running warm-up text that consisted of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address.
