US President Barack Obama says he will redouble his efforts to work with his Republican opponents after they secured control of both Houses of Congress in America's mid-term elections.
But the President promised to take "executive actions" in a variety of policy areas if he can't find a way of working with his opponents.
And he said he wants a new Congressional authorization to battle Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
At a White House press conference he conceded no ground over his personal responsibility for the Democrats' rout on Tuesday night, as our Washington Correspondent Simon Marks reports.
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For an hour and a quarter President Obama chewed over the country's mid-term election results.
And he didn't veer from the tone he established right at the beginning….demurring at every turn from accepting personal culpability for the rout experienced by Democrats.
He insisted the voters - and those who stayed at home - showed they want America's politicians to work together.
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He vowed to reach out to see whether there are areas where he can work with his Republican opponents, saying he would enjoy sharing a glass of Kentucky bourbon with Mitch McConnell, who's poised to become the Majority leader of the Senate.
Then, as if to underscore criticisms that he hasn't worked enough with Republicans in the past, he conceded that he doesn't even know whether bourbon is indeed the Senator's favored drink.
Still, he insisted, the things that motivate him every day will not change as a result of the election's outcome.
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The President said if he can't strikes deals with the Republicans, he'll issue executive orders to break the logjam over - for instance - immigration reform.
That's a high stakes approach in a country whose governing system was built around checks-and-balances between the various branches of government.
He said he will seek a fresh Congressional authorization to pursue the military battle against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
And he backed continuing nuclear discussions with Iran, although Republican majorities in Congress may yet doom any prospects for an agreement.
For their part, the Republicans were offering olive branches….the man who will soon be a kingmaker on Capitol Hill, Senator Mitch McConnell:
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But the President and his opponents have vowed to work together in the past, and have never found a way of achieving it.
With two years to go…and a Presidential election campaign revving up in the background….watching the President at the White House you could sense that he sees his time in office is beginning to expire.
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With that, he was gone….sidestepping a welter of questions about whether he now plans to shake up the White House, or even accepts the notion that his own unpopularity doomed many of his party's candidates.
He was asked if he's a "lame duck".
That he said to the assembled reporters is a label that you guys apply.
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