The White House strategy for going forward is pretty apparent from this Reuters dispatch:
President George W. Bush, disappointed at the Democrats’ seizure of the House of Representatives, will hold a news conference on Wednesday to urge his opponents to work with him, the White House said.
The news conference was set for 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT).
White House spokesman Tony Snow said the outcome of the elections, in which Democrats were projected to win control of the House and pick up several Senate seats, was “not what we would’ve hoped.”
“But it also gets us to a point: Democrats have spent a lot of time complaining about what the president has done. This is an opportunity for them to kind of stand up,” Snow said.
No concessions. No retreat. No surrender.
There will be much more to say about this in the coming hours and days, but it’s not a bad time, even as the Senate remains in the balance, to emphasize a point we have made here from time to time during this campaign.
The election marks a beginning more than an end. Savor the moment tonight. But there is much to be done and no time to linger. Plans must be implemented. More battles waged. Our opponents have been planning for this moment for many months. They are ready. We must be, too.
