MINNEAPOLIS - President Obama said today that if he wins a second term the GOP "fever" of opposition to tax hikes for deficit reduction may break.

He said the Republican Party would, in effect, be forced to embrace "cooperation" and "common sense" which, he suggested, John McCain embodied on some issues four years ago.

"A lot of the tussles that we've had over the last three and a half years have had to do with this difference in vision, and it will be coming to a head in this election.  We're going to have as stark a contrast as we've seen in a very long time between the candidates.  I mean, 2008 was a significant election, obviously.  But John McCain believed in climate change. John believed in campaign finance reform.  He believed in immigration reform.  I mean, there were some areas where you saw some overlap," Obama told a group of donors in Minneapolis.

"In this election, the Republican Party has moved in a fundamentally different direction.  The center of gravity for their party has shifted," he said.

He discussed Republican refusal to accept any revenue increases to reduce the debt and deficit as a case and point.

"I believe that if we're successful in this election - when we're successful in this election - that the fever may break, because there's a tradition in the Republican Party of more common sense than that," he said.

" My hope and my expectation is that after the election, now that it turns out the goal of beating Obama doesn't make much sense because I'm not running again, that we can start getting some cooperation again," Obama argued.

"We're not going to have people raising their hands and saying - or refusing to accept a deal where there's $10 of cuts for every dollar of tax increases, but that people will accept a balanced plan for deficit reduction."