Obama willing to work with Republicans

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he had heard the message voters sent on Election Day and was ready to work with Republicans who dealt his party devastating losses. Even so, he promised to go forward with unilateral action on immigration despite strong Republican opposition.

“It’s time for us to take care of business,” Obama said at a news conference in the East Room of the White House, where he called for immediate action by Congress on a request for emergency funding to combat Ebola and a measure to authorize military action against the terrorist group calling itself the Islamic State. “The American people overwhelmingly believe that this town doesn’t work well,” he said, adding that “as president, they rightly hold me accountable to make it work better.”

The president said he would be willing to compromise with Republicans on trade, corporate tax reform and infrastructure spending, but vowed he would not back down from his promise to act on his own to overhaul the immigration system despite vocal Republican opposition.

“Before the end of the year, we’re going to take whatever lawful action that I can take,” Obama said, arguing that Republicans could negate those moves if they passed a broader immigration bill. “I am eager to see what they have to offer, but what I’m not going to do is just wait.”

It was an indication of the limits of Obama’s willingness to change course in the aftermath of an election that dealt Democrats crushing blows across the country, including losing control over the Senate. Obama, his legacy on the line, now must pivot to governing in a more hostile environment, with

Republicans controlling the Congress and with his power on the wane.

In his own news conference in Louisville, Ky., Sen. Mitch McConnell, who is likely to lead the new Republican majority in the Senate next year, vowed a spirit of cooperation and compromise with Obama even as he cautioned that a more starkly divided government in Washington would inevitably lead to sharp partisan disagreements.

“When the American people choose divided government, I don’t think it means they don’t want us to do anything,” McConnell told reporters in his first news conference since his party trounced Democrats in Tuesday’s elections. “We ought to start with the view that maybe there are some things we can agree on to make progress for the country.”

McConnell largely sidestepped the most divisive issues that are likely to create conflict between his members and Obama. And he played down ideological differences among his own members that might disrupt any efforts to compromise with the president.

But he promised to make the Senate “work again” by changing the rules in the chamber. And he flatly promised that Congress would not shut down the government or default on the national debt in disputes about the nation’s finances.

He made it clear, though, that he is opposed to Obama acting by executive order on immigration. “Choosing to do a lot of things unilaterally on immigration would be a big mistake,” McConnell said. “It’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull to say ‘If you guys don’t do what I want, I’m going to do it on my own.’ ”

The Republican leader said Obama called him Wednesday and discussed issues that might form the basis of a common agenda, including work on trade deals that Republican lawmakers strongly support. He described his relationship with Obama as “cordial” in the past several years.

“There’s not a personality problem here or anything like that,” McConnell said.

But McConnell also acknowledged that there would be issues that divide the parties and he signaled that some of those were likely to generate the kind of tension in Washington that voters despise.

“We will certainly be voting on things as well that we think the administration is not fond of,” he said.

The full magnitude of the Republican Party’s success in reshaping the national political landscape at Obama’s expense became clearer Wednesday as the party seemed headed toward an even longer list of electoral victories in Senate and governor races that had been too close to call.

In Alaska, the winner of the Senate race remained uncertain Wednesday, though the Republican candidate, Dan Sullivan, moved into a small lead in the vote count and appeared poised to oust Sen. Mark Begich, a Democrat. A victory by Sullivan would further whittle away Obama’s support in a Senate that has for years served as the president’s bulwark in Congress against the Republican-controlled House.

If Sullivan wins and Republicans succeed in ousting Sen. Mary Landrieu in Louisiana in a runoff election next month, Republicans would command a 54-vote majority in the Senate, a gain of nine seats and an almost complete turnaround from the current chamber, where Democrats control 55 seats.

In Virginia, Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, was slightly ahead in the vote count in his bid for reelection, but his Republican challenger, Ed Gillespie, a former lobbyist and Republican political advisor, was within less than a percentage point and could request a recount in that state.

Republican candidates for governor in Maryland, Maine and Massachusetts also claimed victories over Democratic opponents in states that by all accounts should have been bright spots for the president and his allies in an otherwise dismal election season.

In Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, narrowly clinched a second term early Wednesday, fending off an unexpectedly tough challenge from a Republican congressman who accused the governor of yanking Colorado too far left on gun control, energy and taxes.

In Connecticut, a bitter race for governor ended Wednesday when Thomas Foley, the Republican challenger, conceded in an email to supporters, handing victory to the incumbent, Dannel Malloy.

By Wednesday afternoon, it appeared that Republicans were on the verge of picking up 15 additional seats and possibly a few more — gains that would give them their largest majority since the World War II era.

The Democratic losses were even larger than top White House aides had feared they might be, and appeared likely to require a rethinking by the president of how he governs during the final two years of a second term that has already been marked by discord and gridlock with the Republican Party.

The results are an immediate blow to the administration’s hopes to further broaden the president’s health-care law by expanding Medicaid in additional states. Some of those states will now be controlled by Republican governors who are unlikely to agree to an expansion of the health-care law.