Obama rules election “shellacking”

A chastened president instead blamed the loss of the House of Representatives and Republican gains in the Senate on deep voter frustration at the sluggish recovery and his failure to clean up the “ugly mess” in Washington.

“It feels bad,” Obama said, digesting his defeat in a White House news conference setting the tone for a looming period of divided government and political confrontation in which he must now chart his 2012 re-election bid.

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“There is no doubt that people’s number-one concern is the economy, and what they were expressing great frustration about is the fact that we haven’t made enough progress on the economy,” Obama said.

“They don’t see it… so I think I have got to take direct responsibility for the fact that we have not made as much progress as we need to make.”

“I have got to do a better job — just like everybody else in Washington does.”

Republican leaders meanwhile, savoring deep countrywide gains, promised to seek common ground where possible, but warned voters had sent a signal that Obama’s reform plans had gone too far and must be halted.-AFP

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