President Obama has sat down for his first one-on-one interview since Democrats were clobbered in the midterm elections on Tuesday, reflecting on his party's massive losses in a segment that will air on "60 Minutes" on Sunday night. Obama pointed to his failure to tout his administration's accomplishments as a key error that may have led to the crushing electoral defeats.
"I think that's a fair argument. I think that, over the course of two years we were so busy and so focused on getting a bunch of stuff done that, we stopped paying attention to the fact that leadership isn't just legislation," Obama told CBS's Steve Kroft. "That it's a matter of persuading people. And giving them confidence and bringing them together. And setting a tone."
House Republican leader -- and likely soon-to-be Speaker of the House -- John Boehner took issue with such a diagnosis on Thursday, telling ABC News that the president and some Democratic leaders are in "denial" about the elections. "When you have the most historic election in over 60, 70 years, you would think the other party would understand that the American people have clearly repudiated the policies they've put forward in the last few years," he said.
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell took a similar -- but much more intense -- approach on Thursday. "As I see it," he said, "the White House has a choice: they can change course, or they can double down on a vision of government that the American people have roundly rejected. If they choose the former, they'll find a partner in Republicans. If they don't, we will have more disagreements ahead."
Below is a portion of the president's "60 Minutes" interview. The entire conversation airs on Sunday night.
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