    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [November 9, 1994]
    [Pages 2045-2052]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 2045]]

    The President's News Conference
    November 9, 1994

        The President. Good afternoon.
        Ladies and gentlemen, last night and again this morning I spoke with
    both Republicans and Democrats to congratulate those who won and console
    those who lost their elections. I also called the leaders of the next
    Congress, Senator Dole and Congressman Gingrich, to tell them after this
    hard-fought campaign that we are ready to work together to serve all the
    American people in a nonpartisan manner.
        The American people sent us here to rebuild the American dream, to
    change the way Washington does business, to make our country work for
    ordinary citizens again. We've made a good start by cutting the deficit,
    by reducing the size of the Federal Government, by reinventing much of
    our Government to do more with less. We have increased our investment in
    education and expanded trade, and our economy has created more than 5
    million jobs. We've also made a serious start in the fight against the
    terrible plague of crime and violence in this country. I remain
    committed to completing the work we have done.
        Still, in the course of this work, there has been too much politics-
    as-usual in Washington, too much partisan conflict, too little reform of
    Congress and the political process. And though we have made progress,
    not enough people have felt more prosperous and more secure or believe
    we were meeting their desires for fundamental change in the role of
    Government in their lives.
        With the Democrats in control of both the White House and the
    Congress, we were held accountable yesterday. And I accept my share of
    the responsibility in the result of the elections.
        When the Republican Party assumes leadership in the House and in the
    Senate, they will also have a larger responsibility for acting in the
    best interest of the American people. I reach out to them today, and I
    ask them to join me in the center of the public debate where the best
    ideas for the next generation of American progress must come.
        Democrats and Republicans have often joined together when it was
    clearly in the national interest. For example, they have often chosen to
    put international affairs above politics. I urge them to do so again by
    passing the GATT agreement this year. Our prosperity depends upon it,
    and there can be no compromise when the national interest and the
    livelihood of American households are at stake.
        Last night the voters not only voted for sweeping changes, they
    demanded that a more equally divided Congress work more closely together
    with the President for the interest of all the American people. So I
    hope that we can do that on GATT and that by doing so, we will pave the
    way for further cooperation on welfare reform and on health care reform,
    on a continued investment in our people's educational opportunities and
    the continued strength of our economy.
        We must also take more steps to restore the people's faith in our
    political institutions and agree that, further, in the best tradition of
    our own foreign policy, that politics will continue to stop at the
    water's edge.
        To those who believe we must keep moving forward, I want to say
    again, I will do everything in my power to reach out to the leaders and
    the Members of this new Congress. It must be possible to make it a more
    effective, more functioning institution. It must be possible for us to
    give our people a Government that is smaller, that is more effective,
    that reflects both our interests and our values.
        But to those who would use this election to turn us back, let me say
    this: I will do all in my power to keep anyone from jeopardizing this
    economic recovery by taking us back to the policies that failed us
    before. I will still work for those things that make America strong:
    strong families, better education, safer streets, more high-paying jobs,
    a more prosperous and peaceful world. There is too much at stake for our
    children and our future to do anything else.
        Well, a lot has changed since yesterday. But what hasn't changed is
    the reason I was sent here and the reason the Members of the Congress
    will be sent here, to restore the American dream and to make this
    country work, this Government work, this city work for the interest of
    ordinary Americans again. That is what the American people expect of us.

    [[Page 2046]]

        Last night they said they were not satisfied with the progress we
    had made. They said the Democrats had been in control of the White House
    and the Congress. They said they were going to make a change, and they
    did make a change. But they still want the same goal. I pledge today to
    work with all the Members of the Congress, and especially the new
    Republican leadership, to achieve that goal. If they will work with me,
    and they have pledged to do so today, then we can make great progress
    for this country. We should be optimistic, and we should work to make
    that optimism real.
        Terry [Terence Hunt, Associated Press].

    Midterm Elections

        Q. Yesterday not a single Republican incumbent lost in any race for
    Governor, House, or Senate while the Democratic Party, your party,
    suffered its worst losses for decades. Do you view this as a repudiation
    of you, or is there another common denominator in this election that
    we're missing?
        The President. Well, I think that I have some responsibility for it.
    I'm the President. I am the leader of the efforts that we have made in
    the last 2 years. And to whatever extent that we didn't do what the
    people wanted us to do or they were not aware of what we had done, I
    must certainly bear my share of responsibility, and I accept that.
        You know, a lot of us haven't had a lot of sleep, and we're going to
    need a few days to digest all these results. There will be a lot of you
    doing exit surveys, asking the American people what they meant and said.
    But what I think they said is, they still don't like what they see when
    they watch us working here. They still haven't felt the positive results
    of things that have been done here that they agree with when they hear
    about them, but they don't feel them. They're still not sure that we
    understand what they expect the role of Government to be.
        I think they want a smaller Government that gives them better value
    for their dollar, that reflects both their interest and their values,
    that is not a burden to them but that empowers them. That's what I have
    tried to do, but I don't think they believe we're there yet, by a long
    shot. They want us to do more.
        I went back today and read my announcement speech for President, and
    I said in that speech that the job of Government was to create
    opportunity and then to expect citizens to assume the responsibility to
    make the most of that opportunity. I think that's about where the
    American people are. They don't think we've done that yet.
        And the only thing I think they knew to do yesterday was to try to
    make a change in the people who were in control and who had been. I
    regret that some of the people who lost are people who made this a lot
    better country and who will always, when the history books are written,
    get the credit they deserve, in hindsight, for helping to make the
    American people more secure.
        I don't believe the American people were saying, ``We're sorry the
    deficit has been reduced; we're sorry the size of Government has been
    reduced; and we're sorry you've taken a tough stand on crime; we're
    sorry you're expanding trade.'' I don't believe that. I don't think they
    were disagreeing with a lot of the specifics. I do think they still just
    don't like it when they watch what we do up here, and they haven't felt
    the positive impact of what has been done. And since I'm the President,
    I have to take some responsibility for that.
        Q. Would you have survived if you had been on the ballot yesterday?
        The President. Well, some Democrats did. I like to think I would
    have because I believe that I would have been a ferocious defender of
    what we have done, and I hope that I could have characterized what the
    choices were. But I don't know that, and neither does anybody else.
        I think it's important to say that yesterday's election, like every
    election, was fundamentally about the American people. And they looked
    at us, and they said, ``We want some more changes, and we're going to
    try this and see if this works.'' There is a lot of evidence--I've read
    it in a lot of your reporting--that the American people believe, a
    majority of them, and have believed for decades now that divided
    Government may work better than united Government. As you know, I
    disagree with that--why I did my best to make it work the other way--but
    they didn't agree, and they're in charge. We all work for them, every
    one of us. And their will, their voice was heard. We got the message.
    And now we have to think about it, analyze it, rest up, and move on.
        But this country is facing its problems. And what I think they told
    us was, ``Look, 2 years ago we made one change; now we made another

    [[Page 2047]]

    change. We want you to keep on moving this country forward, and we want
    you to accelerate the pace of change,'' in the areas that I mentioned.
        I do not believe they voted for reversals of economic policy or the
    positions on crime. I don't think they voted for a reversal of the Brady
    bill or the military assault weapons ban. I don't believe that. But I do
    think they sent us a message, and I tried to hear it. And we're going to
    work together and do the best we can.

    Republican Agenda

        Q. What do you think this does for your expected bid for reelection,
    and how will you deal with the contract for America if there are
    proposed cuts in Social Security, Medicare, veterans benefits, the whole
    9 yards?
        The President. Well, first of all, we've got plenty of time to worry
    about the next election. The American people are sick of the one they
    just had, and they want to get away from politics for a while. I think
    we should think about the people, their interests. I think we should
    say, ``What message were they sending us, and what are we going to do
    about it, and how can we pull this country together?'' How can the
    Democrats and the Republicans in the Congress and the White House and
    the Republican leadership work together in a nonpartisan way to push
    this country forward?
        Now, on the contract, as I said specifically in Cleveland and
    elsewhere, there are some things in that contract that I like. I hope
    the Congress will give me the line-item veto and do it quickly. If they
    do, we'll bring this deficit down even more quickly. I hope that we will
    have aggressive efforts to work together on welfare reform. I hope we
    will be able to still reduce several areas of Federal spending and
    continue this whole reinventing Government effort to do more with less.
        The issue in the contract is what it has always been. I do not
    believe that we can afford to go back to the days of exploding deficits,
    which I believe would lead to a weaker economy, to lost jobs, and to a
    more difficult future for ourselves and for our children. So the
    question there is, how will all of this be paid for?
        I do not believe, now many Republicans in the campaign said they do
    not believe that we should cut Social Security or Medicare. So if we
    can't cut Social Security or Medicare, if we must maintain the world's
    strongest defense, which I think the Republican leadership and I are
    strongly in agreement on, then what else are we going to do? And that
    will be a challenge. But you know, give them a chance. They've got to
    enjoy their victory today. Give them a day or so to enjoy their victory,
    and don't push them too far in the future. They will come to grips with
    that, I'm sure.
        Q. Do you really think you are going to be able to compromise with
    them on that?
        The President.  Well, I'm not going to compromise on my convictions,
    what makes America strong. We are stronger today, but we have more
    strength to get. We have to have--I'll say again what I think makes our
    country strong: strong families, better education, safer streets, more
    high-paying jobs, a Government that reflects their values and the
    interest of the American people, and work to make a world that's more
    prosperous and more peaceful. Those are the principles on which I do not
    intend to compromise.
        But I want to work with them. Look, let me just give you one
    example. I have always wanted to make The Tax Code more fair. The Tax
    Code is more fair today than it was when I took office. We did cut
    income tax rates for families with incomes of up to $27,000. They want
    to go further than that. I would like to go further than that. The
    question is, how far can we go; can we focus on working families with
    children; how are we going to pay for it? We have to answer now the
    details. And in large measure, that is a question that can only be
    answered by some sort of partnership and by getting their views. And
    again, I say: Let's give them a day or two to enjoy their victory, and
    then they'll have an opportunity to work forward.

    Tax Cut

        Q. Mr. President, following up on that, would you support a tax cut
    such as they propose in their Contract With America, of $500 for every
    family under $200,000 income, if you don't think it's paid for? Or,
    would you veto it? Would you get into that kind of confrontational mode
    with them on something specific?
        The President. Well, first of all, let me say they have to have a
    chance to look at the budget now. When you're in opposition, you can be
    an advocate entirely, and you can put out ideas you think are good.
        I hope we can find some way to continue to improve the fairness of
    the Tax Code and

    [[Page 2048]]

    to help middle class working Americans. When I was trying to reduce the
    deficit in 1993 and make the Tax Code fairer, we had to stop at $27,000
    in income for families with children, working families with children, in
    our tax relief. I think perhaps we can go further. But I don't want to
    get into a lot of details today. I'd just say that if we do this, we
    need to pay for it. We don't need to explode the deficit again. We do
    not need to weaken the economic recovery again. We need to be
    responsible with our budget and with our future. I still believe that
    the American people want us to do that.
        Yes, Bill [Bill Plante, CBS News].

    Welfare and Health Care Reform

        Q. Mr. President, you talked a moment ago about the role of
    Government. And Government's intervention seems to be what a lot of the
    voters ruled out, voted against. Are you willing to scale back your
    expectations in areas like health care and welfare reform, or are you
    going to go in with plans that look like the ones you had this past year
    and wait for them to compromise, or will you go to them with something
    less than you had asked before?
        The President. Well, first of all, let me say, if you look at the
    welfare reform issue--let's take that first. I sent them a bill last
    March that is quite similar to one that several Republicans themselves
    have proposed. I don't think anybody would characterize it as a
    Government intervention bill. It's a bill designed to move people from
    welfare to work after a certain set time, to have tougher child support
    enforcement, to provide education and training and support for people
    who go into the workplace so they can know their children are all right.
    I think there is over 80 percent support in this country among Americans
    of both parties, among people of all races and backgrounds for doing
    something like this. So I think we will get an agreement.
        On the health care issue, I will concede that by the time the folks
    who were characterizing our program had finished with it--and one of
    your publications said that they thought about $300 million had been
    spent in lobbying against the health care reform--it looked like a
    Government program designed to solve the problem by restricting the
    choices of the American people and injecting the Government more into
    health care. That is not what I want to do. And I will concede this: I
    have got to find a way to reassure the American people that if they like
    what they've got, they can keep it.
        But let me say, I remain committed to solving the health care
    problem. Last year another million Americans, almost all of them in
    working families, lost their health insurance. We have more and more
    people--I talk to them all the time when I go out in the country--small
    business people and others who have health insurance that is so limited
    because their copays and deductibles are so high that all they've really
    got insurance against is losing their home if they get sick. So I remain
    committed to finding a way to keep Americans from losing their health
    insurance if they change jobs or if someone in their family gets sick;
    to controlling the cost increases in health care by market mechanisms;
    to providing ways for people in small businesses and self-employed
    people to buy health insurance at the same rates that those of us in
    Government or big employers, working for big employers, can do it.
        This is still a problem. And let me say, as the Republicans leaders
    know--they've been here working on this budget--we reduced both defense
    and domestic spending this year for the first time in 25 years. The only
    thing that went up this year was the cost of Medicare and Medicaid. So
    this problem will not go away, and I expect to work with the Congress to
    address it.
        Mike [Michael Duffy, Time].

    Entitlement Programs

        Q. You seem to have backed yourself into a corner on the budget. You
    say that Medicaid and Medicare cuts will go to fund health reform. Will
    your next budget outline what you will do to keep the budget deficit
    going down, particularly if you won't cut Social Security?
        The President. Well, I will work with the Republican leadership on
    that. I will be interested to see what their ideas are. I believe
    furthermore--as you know, the Kerrey commission has been looking at the
    whole entitlement question and the long-term implications for our
    country. I have said, on the Medicare savings, that I thought Medicare
    savings should be used to help deal with the health care problem because
    Medicare is paid for entirely by a payroll tax, the purpose of which is
    to deal with health care. So that's what I have said.
        Now, Social Security I think should be dealt with on its own terms.
    As you know, several

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    years into the future, it is projected that we will once again have a
    Social Security problem. Ten years ago, a bipartisan commission met and
    worked out the problems and dealt with that in ways that have, in
    essence, solved the Social Security problem well into the next century.
    But we must always be vigilant about that.
        The point I want to make about Social Security, though, is that as a
    percentage of our national income, Social Security is about the same it
    was 20 years ago, 22 years ago. The Social Security tax has, in fact,
    produced a surplus for some years now. So it doesn't seem to me to be
    the right thing to do to try to restrict benefits to recipients overall
    when the Social Security tax has more than paid its own way all these
    years.
        Now, as you know, in the last session of Congress, we did ask the
    most well-off--about 12 or 13 percent--of Social Security recipients to
    pay taxes on a higher percentage of their income, more like private
    retirees. But I do not believe we should be in the business of cutting
    Social Security to pay for a tax cut in some other area. I think that
    would be an error.
        Brit [Brit Hume, ABC News].

    Midterm Elections

        Q. Mr. President, did you mean to say here, sir, that the message
    the voters sent yesterday was basically an extension of the demand for
    change they made when you were elected in '92, and that you've been
    going in the right direction but perhaps need to go farther and faster
    with the sense of the same agenda?
        The President. Well, I think they were saying two things to me--or
    maybe three. They were saying--maybe 300. [Laughter]
        I think they were saying, ``Look, we just don't like what we see
    when we watch Washington, and you haven't done much about that.'' You
    know, we haven't changed the lobbying reform laws. Congress is still not
    required to live under the same laws that it imposes on private
    employers. There's still no line-item veto. There's still not campaign
    finance reform. ``We don't like it when we look at it. It's too
    partisan, too interest group oriented; things don't get done, too many
    people up there playing politics. Democrats are in charge; we're holding
    you accountable. And we hope you hear this, Mr. President.'' I think
    they said that.
        The second thing I think they said is, ``Look, you may have done all
    these things, although we haven't heard much of it, and we're not sure
    we believe it. But even if the deficit is down, the Government is
    smaller, more is being invested in education, the crime bill passed, and
    the economy is growing, we still feel insecure. We don't feel that our
    incomes are going up, that our jobs are more stable, that our
    neighborhoods are safer, that the fabric of American life is growing
    more civilized and more law-abiding.''
        Then I think the third thing they were saying--and this maybe gets
    to the point of your question--is, ``There are things we expect
    Government to do, but we don't think Government can solve all the
    problems. And we don't want the Democrats telling us from Washington
    that they know what is right about everything. We want the Government to
    be smaller. We want it to be more efficient. We want it to create
    opportunity, to empower us. And we want it to demand responsibility of
    people who aren't behaving responsibly. In short, we want it to reflect
    our interests and our values.'' And I think what they were saying is
    that the Republicans did a good job of defining us as the party of
    Government, and that's not a good place to be. I think that was a clear
    message that they were sending in the election.
        Q. Those are all things, sir, that you have said. Are you
    essentially saying that the electorate yesterday was agreeing with you?
        The President. I think they were agreeing with me, but they don't
    think we produced them. In other words--let me say it in another way.
    I'm saying that I agree with much of what the electorate said yesterday.
    Now, there were segments of that majority the Republicans put together
    obviously that I do not agree with and on matters of conviction I can't
    say I agreed with. I don't agree that we should repeal either the
    assault weapons ban or the Brady bill. The NRA would like to do that. I
    don't think we should. I don't agree that the answer to the abortion
    problem is to criminalize abortion again. That was a big part of that
    vote. So I'm still pro-choice, not because I'm pro-abortion; I'm not.
    But I still believe that it's a mistake to criminalize that. So I don't
    agree with all that.
        But I think that the swing voters, the people that first of all
    voted for Bill Clinton and Ross Perot in '92 against the incumbent
    President and then voted for the Republicans for Congress against the
    incumbent Democrats--and in the

    [[Page 2050]]

    challenging races and out in the country--were making a statement about
    what they think about Government. They still believe that Government is
    more often the problem than the solution. They don't want any party to
    be the party of Government. They don't want the presumption to be that
    people in Washington know what's best. They do want the Government to
    protect their interest, promote their values, I think, and to empower
    them. And then they want people held accountable.
        So I'm saying that, to that extent, that message--I got it. I accept
    responsibility for not delivering. To whatever extent it's my fault that
    we haven't delivered back to the American people what they want on that,
    I have to accept that responsibility.
        But you know, I've worked hard, the Vice President has worked hard
    on this whole business of downsizing the Government, deregulating
    several areas of our national life. We have not done as much as we are
    going to have to do to satisfy the voters, but we also have to recognize
    that this Government has a responsibility to protect and promote certain
    fundamental interests that I think the people really also want protected
    and promoted.
        But they sent us a clear message. I got it, and I'm going to try to
    redouble my efforts to get there. I think that the Republican
    congressional leadership will at least have the chance to work with us.
    I'm going to do my dead-level best to do that, and to be less partisan.
    Most Americans are not strongly partisan, and they don't want us to be.

    Downsizing Government

        Q. Mr. President, if one of the signal messages of yesterday is that
    Americans want smaller Government, how much smaller do they want it, and
    what can you do to shrink it?
        The President. Well, we're shrinking it already. One thing we can
    do----
        Q. What can you do that you haven't done, that you haven't done
    already, to shrink it?
        The President. Well, I think it's important, though--let me put the
    record out. All we have to do is to stay with the present 6-year plan,
    and we will reduce the size of Government by 272,000. We have already
    passed major laws to deregulate banking and interstate trucking. We have
    already given 20 States total freedom from Federal regulations to pursue
    their welfare reform experiments and about 9 States freedom to pursue
    their health care experiments. And the education bill cuts a lot of
    Federal strings that are tied to the States to improve the performance
    of children in the schools.
        So what I think we have to do is to look at every single Government
    department, every single Government program, and especially the nature
    of Government regulation and ask ourselves: Is there a better way to do
    this? Is this something where the American people will think we're more
    of a burden than a help? Is there a way to give more flexibility to
    people at the State and local level and in private life to achieve the
    same goal?
        We're going to have to continue, in other words, to review
    everything that this Government does. And I think that there are more
    things that can be done. I'm going to propose them. I encourage the
    Republicans in Congress to propose them and the Democrats in Congress to
    propose them. I think that this is--we're in the middle of a revolution
    here in the way organizations work in America, in the world, and the
    Government is still behind the eight ball. And we're going to have to
    keep pushing until people believe that they have a Government that works
    for them, that they have confidence in, and that they think gives them
    good value for their dollar, and that doesn't overreach where they think
    it shouldn't overreach.
        Wolf [Wolf Blitzer, Cable News Network].

    Whitewater Investigation

        Q. Mr. President, you know, the Republicans are taking over the
    Senate now and the House, so they'll be in charge of all of the
    committees. Are you especially concerned that Senator Alfonse D'Amato,
    if he becomes chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and
    Representative Jim Leach, if he becomes chairman of the House Banking
    Committee, will now intensify their Whitewater investigations?
        The President. No. I have said I would cooperate with the Congress,
    and I will continue to cooperate with the Congress, as I have. I think
    that they will have, obviously, other responsibilities as well now, and
    I think that they will just fulfill those responsibilities as they see
    fit. I'll do my best to fulfill my responsibilities.
        One more.

    Midterm Elections

        Q. Mr. President, the recurring refrain in the preelection
    interviews was that this was the

    [[Page 2051]]

    nastiest campaign in modern times. Do you agree with that? If you do
    agree, what do you think caused that, and what do you think can be done
    about it?
        The President. Well, I think it is--the causes are many and complex,
    partly because of the real feelings people have about where they are in
    their own lives and what they saw here in Washington and how it was
    presented to them for a good long period of time, partly because of the
    enormous expenditure of funds for negative ads of all kinds. And I think
    campaign finance reform would help some. But let me say that there were
    pockets in this country, there were elections in this country where
    people won by being more positive and less negative, but they could only
    do it if the voters felt that they were part of a process.
        If you ask me for one of the mistakes that I think that I have made
    since I've been here, I have spent so much time trying to pass bills
    through Congress that I haven't spent as much time as I was able to
    spend when I was running for President making sure that the people
    understood, were in on, and felt a part of the process by which we make
    decisions. And I believe that, again I will say, as much as the specific
    decisions that were made, it was the alienation people feel from the
    Government and the process.
        Let me just give you another example. If you look at North Dakota,
    where Senator Conrad and Congressman Pomeroy were elected in a State
    where I lost by a large margin in 1992, and yet they supported these
    programs, these initiatives, and the economic plan, I asked myself: Did
    that happen in part because it's a small enough State where people can
    talk together, they can work together, they are less easily moved by the
    negative ads? What can I do to use modern technology better, to work
    with the Republicans in Congress and the Democrats to involve the
    American people in this as we go along? What responsibility is there? In
    other words, the President can work 60, 70 hours a week and lose his
    voice several times and pass a bunch of bills, and if people don't feel
    that they're a part of it, then so what if I'm signing another piece of
    paper up here.
        If you look at--Governor Romer in Colorado has some very interesting
    thoughts about this and has worked very hard on this. But I think this
    is something that I'm going to have to really ask others about and get
    some advice about, because one of the things I prided the 1992 campaign
    on--and I give credit to the other candidates as well--but for all of
    the attacks and the criticisms in `92, the fact that there were some
    negative ads back and forth, the truth is we had a big turnout based
    largely on hope. We had three debates, one of which people were involved
    in, ordinary citizens. We had countless town meetings, two of the
    candidates did. We had other things that constantly made the American
    people feel that they had some say up here. And I think that--to go back
    to Brit's question--I think that part of it is they think that we get up
    here and we just get up every day and, even if we're working hard, we
    just are going this way, when they may want to go this way. And it just
    doesn't mean anything to them. They worry then about having a Government
    that is more of a burden than a support. And it's something we have to
    find a way to crack. It's not a simple issue.
        I'll take one more. Go ahead.

    Democratic Party's Future

        Q. Do you feel at all that this election has pushed you politically
    to the right? And would you have any message for the Democrats in
    Congress, like Senator Shelby, who are considering or might be
    considering switching to the Republican Party?
        The President. I think he did switch.
        Q. Yes, I know, but if there are Democrats in the House who are
    considering switching.
        The President. Oh, I see what you mean. Well, first of all, let me
    say that if we can have a bipartisan coalition, then we can be both
    nonpolitical and more centrist. I ran for President saying that we
    should not be governed--we should not be governed by either Republicans
    or Democrats who are pushed too far in either direction, that most of
    the good ideas are ideas that take us into the future, not push us left
    or right.
        There were times when our inability to have cooperation in the
    Congress dictated a solution that came primarily out of the Democrats.
    When we got cooperation, when we were able to work together--to give you
    two examples--on NAFTA and on the crime bill I ultimately signed, we had
    a bill I think that resonated pretty well with the American people. So I
    feel good about that. I want to have a bipartisan cooperation.

    [[Page 2052]]

        A lot of the things they have advocated I have advocated, like the
    line-item veto, the lobby reform, the congressional reform, further
    reductions in unnecessary spending and regulation. I do not believe that
    we should give up on our efforts to make the economy stronger, the
    streets safer, our people better educated, our families more supported
    in the work of parenting and work. But I think there's a lot we can work
    together on that will be consistent with my convictions, consistent with
    what I have always believed, consistent with what I've always worked
    for. And when we can do that, we ought to do that.
        I always felt, in the last 2 years, that we could work together,
    consistent with our convictions, more than we were working together
    because of politics. When we can't work together because our convictions
    are different, I will stand on my convictions.
        Yes, go ahead.
        Q. Even before you ran for President, you had an idea of where the
    Democratic Party had to go to reclaim the center and become a majority
    again. Now that your party is a minority in Congress and in the
    statehouses, what do Democrats have to do to avoid becoming a permanent
    minority party?
        The President. I think we have to, first of all, as I said, take a
    little nap, take a little sleep, take a little rest, let the Republicans
    enjoy their victories, and analyze why they won, and ask ourselves to
    what extent do we also believe some of the things the voters believe.
        You know, sometimes in life--let me just say this--sometimes in
    life, you have to be in the minority because you just cannot, in good
    conscience, go along with what's popular. Sometimes that happens. I
    really regret the loss of some of these fine young progressive Members
    of Congress who clearly are in the mainstream of their views to the
    people back home, because they could not defend themselves against
    either the efforts of certain groups on votes like the crime bill or
    because they couldn't find a way to convince the majority of their
    constituents that when they voted for that economic plan it would bring
    the deficit down, it was a sacrifice worth making, it will make the
    country stronger. I regret that.
        But those people did what was right for their country and for the
    future. And if they hadn't done it, we wouldn't be where we are today
    economically, and we would be in a terrible fix with regard to the
    deficit. And we wouldn't have the middle class college loan program. We
    wouldn't have a lot of things. So I regret that.
        But I think we have to analyze the results of the elections, hear
    what the voters were saying, and go back to them and say: We believe
    that the Government is not inherently bad. We agree that the Government
    needs to be smaller and more efficient. We believe it needs to reflect
    our values as well as our interests. And we believe that we have more to
    offer in that regard, and here is what it is and here is what the
    distinctions are.
        That, I think, was the work that we have been trying to do for 10
    years. I believe that a lot of these things that we saw yesterday were
    the culmination of many years of trends, as well as a dissatisfaction
    with the last 2 years. And I think that we have an opportunity now to go
    back and capture the imagination of the American people with good ideas
    consistent with Democratic values.
        I've got to go. Thank you.

    Note: The President's 78th news conference began at 3:33 p.m. in the
    East Room at the White House.