The Morning After Shift in Congress, GOP and Democrats Say They're Ready to Move On
Races still too close to call for Alaska, Colorado senator.
Nov. 3, 2010— -- The morning after the GOP gave a collective shout of victory and Democrats retreated to lick their wounds, leaders in both parties vowed to set the mudslinging aside to try and find a compromise on the economy, tax cuts and job creation.
"It's clear tonight who the winners really are," U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, said during his victory speech Tuesday night. "And that's the American people."
Despite promises of cooperation, both parties seemed today to be eyeing their opponents warily.
Boehner, poised to replace California Rep. Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House when the new Congress convenes in January, received a phone call just after midnight from President Obama, who offered both congratulations and an offer of cooperation between the parties.
Though Republicans trounced the Democrats in the House races, the Dems held onto their majority in the Senate – though just barely, winning the requisite 51 seats to retain control.
One of those seats stayed with powerhouse Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, whose 40 years in office had been strongly challenged by Tea Party activist Sharron Angle. Reid also got a call from Obama after the results came in.
"I think this is a time when we need to look at what happened," he told "Good Morning America." "Anytime you have a new president in a time of urgency as President Obama found himself at the beginning of the last Congress … there's a lot we have to do. We found ourselves in a big hole from the previous eight years."
It's also a time, he said, to move on.
"We all know that our majority is smaller than what it was, but I hope that the leader of the Republicans ... will understand that we have to work together," Reid said. "Just saying no doesn't do the trick."
Obama is scheduled to speak today on the election results at 1 p.m. from the East Room at the White House. Obama's policies, especially on the economy and healthcare, were widely blamed for voter shift this year.
It was a change of heart that meant big wins for the Tea Party. Propelled in seemingly equal parts by voter dissatisfaction, headline-making statements and powerhouse Sarah Palin, the Tea Party notched wins for Rand Paul in Kentucky and Marco Rubio in Florida.
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