THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama has said he is looking forward to working with Republicans and admitted Americans were deeply “frustrated” with the pace of economy recovery.
Mr Obama spoke after Republicans seized control of the House of Representatives. The president now faces legislative gridlock and potentially a roll back of some of his key legislative reforms.
“After what I’m sure was a long night for a time of you and needless to say it was for me, I can tell you that, you know, some election nights are more fun than others. Some are exhilarating. Some are humbling,” Mr Obama said.
“And yesterday’s vote confirmed what I’ve heard from folks all across America. People are frustrated. They’re deeply frustrated with the pace of our economic recovery and the opportunities that they hope for their children and their grandchildren.”
Mr Obama would not concede that the Republican win represented a public rejection of his agenda but he took "direct responsibility" for the slow economy.
Republicans scored the chamber’s biggest party turnover in more than 70 years. Democrats lost ground in the Senate, but kept their majority, vote tallies showed on Wednesday.
John Boehner, the House Republican Leader on Wednesday claimed a voter mandate to roll back the Obama administration’s health care overhaul, calling it is a “monstrosity”.
The presumptive next speaker of the House said that the Republican takeover of the House and its success in narrowing the Democratic Senate majority in Tuesday’s elections was proof that “the Obama-Pelosi agenda” was rejected by the American people. >>> | Wednesday, November 03, 2010
