Gibbs shows softer side after Republican sweep in midterm election

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs put aside his usually
combative nature in order to adopt a kinder, gentler tone in the wake
of Democratic losses in the midterms.

In his first daily press briefing, which came the day after
Republicans won back the majority in the House, Gibbs displayed this
new, softer side.

{mosads}He didn’t rise to the bait of the White House press corps to tear into
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), even after McConnell
stated his top priority was denying Gibbs’s boss a second term.

“The message of Tuesday’s election was that the American people want
both political parties to work together. There will be time for
another political campaign, but we just finished one,” Gibbs said.

The calm, measured response was a noticeable difference from Gibbs’s
previously attention-grabbing tone.

Combative by nature, Gibbs never seems to be having as much fun as
when he has an enemy. A veteran of several Senate campaigns and John
Kerry’s failed 2004 White House bid, Gibbs knows how to make
headlines.

In an interview with The Hill earlier this year, his comments on the
“professional left” set off a firestorm.

He said of liberals: “They will be satisfied when we have Canadian
healthcare and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.”

After the resulting fury from bloggers and talking heads, Gibbs
declined an opportunity to take back his remarks.

Asked at his next press briefing if his foot was in his mouth when he
made those comments, Gibbs responded: “I have both my feet firmly
planted on the floor and nothing in my mouth to speak of.”

It’s those types of witty barbs that have brought laughter to the
White House press room.

For example, when he was asked about former Vice President Cheney’s
comments President Obama was making the country less safe, Gibbs
responded: “Well, I guess Rush Limbaugh was busy, so they trotted out
the next most popular member of the Republican cabal.”

And when told by reporters he was a “let-down” after Obama made a
surprise visit to the briefing room, he responded: “Well, you guys
are, too.”

So it was unlike Gibbs not to rise to the occasion Thursday and blast
McConnell and the Republican Party for injecting more partisan
politics into the debate.

Instead, he repeated the administration’s line about being open to
compromise on tax cuts and other issues, ever so gently chiding
McConnell in the process.

“The president yesterday signaled — and again today — his intention
to work with Republicans on extending tax cuts, our first priority
obviously being the middle class; to work with Republicans on things
like education policy, improving our schools; and to work with them on
energy independence, that we’re not wedded to all of our ideas,” Gibbs
said.

“I hope that Sen. McConnell comes to the White House with that in mind
in a couple of weeks,” he noted.

His new tone is also an example of the strategy the White House is
employing after receiving such a strong message from voters.

While McConnell talks of stopping a second Obama term and Republican
leaders like presumed GOP Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) and presumed
Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) talk of repealing the president’s
signature domestic accomplishments, the White House plans to adhere to
a message of cooperation and compromise.

Obama and Gibbs have openly telegraphed the president’s first major
compromise, moving toward the GOP position of extending the George W. Bush-era
tax cuts for the wealthy.

The tax cuts expire before the end of the year. Before the election,
Obama emphasized he only wanted tax cuts for families making below
$250,000 a year, while the Republicans wanted an across-the-board
extension. After the election, Obama said he was willing to negotiate on
the issue.

Congress adjourned in August before lawmakers could vote on an
extension of the cuts, an issue that has divided the president’s
party.

House Democrats barely won a vote to adjourn the House without
extending the Bush tax cuts. Boehner gave a floor speech to urge
opposition to adjournment without dealing with the issue, and 39 Democrats,
many of them in tough races, voted with him.

And with Republicans picking up nearly 60 House seats on Tuesday, the
administration appears to have gotten the message.

After spending weeks on the campaign trail accusing Republicans of
holding middle-class tax cuts “hostage,” Gibbs took a markedly more
sheepish tone when asked if the president still thought that or if the
issue should have been dealt with before the election.

“I think the president would like to have seen us do that before the
Congress originally adjourned,” Gibbs said.