Political Eye
By

Leigh Ann Caldwell /

CBS News/ January 22, 2013, 10:15 AM

GOP: Where was Obama's outreach in inaugural speech?

President Obama knows a debate over deficits and entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is straight ahead. As Major Garrett reports, he used his second inaugural speech to tell Republicans these pillars of the great society must remain.

President Obama knows a debate over deficits and entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is straight ahead. As Major Garrett reports, he used his second inaugural speech to tell Republicans these pillars of the great society must remain. / Justin Sullivan

The reviews are out on President Obama's second inaugural address, and Republicans are expressing disappointment in what they say was his failure to reach across the aisle in his remarks.

"I was more hopeful that you'd hear more bipartisanship," Rep, Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said today on "CBS This Morning." "I was hoping that we would have a second term different than the first term."

To the dismay of many Republicans, the president laid out a laundry list of Democratic pillars such as climate change, same-sex marriage and entitlements during his 19-minute speech.

"The commitments we make to each other through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, these things do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great," the president said.

However, Republican critics didn't necessarily criticize what was said, but what wasn't, lamenting that he didn't extend an olive branch or an invitation to work together.

"It did seem that he wasn't doing the kind of outreach that he needs to do if he wants to get things accomplished in a second term," Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told The Hill.

"I would have liked to have seen some outreach...This is the eighth [inauguration] that I've been to and always there's been a portion of the speech where [the president says], 'I reach out my hand because we need to work together.' That wasn't in this speech," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said, according to The Hill.

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"My disappointment was that in the speech, I think the president missed an opportunity to talk about where we can find common ground," Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told the Los Angeles Times. "Instead, he chose to talk about it in the abstract and the specifics were about the things he believes, but are not issues where we, as a Congress and an executive branch, can make progress."

Meanwhile, not all Republicans were critical. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, who is often extremely critical of the president, gave the president better-than-expected reviews. He said that "within the context of this capping off a campaign that it was not too political."

And Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said he "thought it was a pretty good speech."

"Actually, everything he said kind of fits within a 'brotherly love' type of situation. Do I agree with everything in the speech? No. But I thought it was pretty good.," Hatch told Politico.

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250 Comments Add a Comment
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buudy1 says:
John McCain is just a bitter old man that can not get over the fact that the American people soundly rejected him as president. McCain simply was not qualified, lacking the character, credibility and integrity to be president. McCain is now content to object and complain at everything, putting his own selfish hatred before country. I feel that McCain is now too bitter to be in the senate.
http://pol.moveon.org/mccain10/thanks.html?id=-17340335-0gXtorx

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/

http://rt.com/news/prime-time/vietnamese-dispute-mccain-torture-claim/

There is the real John McCain 'above"
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TimeToEvolve says:
Are we all aware that the state legislatures in PA, OH, MI, WI, VA and FL are planning on stealing the next election in 2016? We better pay attention to this folks. Since the Republicons can't fairly win any more elections they NEED TO CHEAT TO WIN.

They are fixing it so that a Democratic President can never win again. These are the true patriots of America at work. My guess is that this WILL start the American Fascist Party and the next America Revolution.
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jimatmadison says:
The Republican Party's STATED goal for four years was to try to cause this President to fail.

Every time the President said 'Yes', they said 'No', even if it had been their own idea in the first place.

And now they're whining about outreach?!?

The voters overwhelmingly reelected President Obama, the GOP only won 8 of 33 open Senate seats, and over a million more Americans voted Democratic than Republican for the House, where the GOP lost seats.

The GOP has driven themselves into a demographic cul de sac, becoming the party of white men, and their only economic plan is to give tax breaks to the wealthy, and let the rest of us and our kids and grandkids pay for it.

The GOP needs to come to the President. Not the other way around.
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jamesdickason says:
Same O, Same O--4 more years of deliberate dessension--He's not the sharpest pencil in the box.
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jamesdickason says:
dissension
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GOP-R--Con-Men says:
GOP: Where was Obama's outreach in inaugural speech?
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The GOP is deluded to think the holder of the most powerful office in the land President Obama should continue to beg them to govern instead of obstruct. These clowns probably think women and various minorities should find nothing wrong with the GOP's behavior toward them either. A party of true neanderthals.
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earlysaid replies:
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Republicans are the party going too far to the right. They will eventually only appeal to the most crazy and unbalanced people in this country. They mostly are right now and they will keep on not winning elections because of the tea party extremists in their midst.
GOP-R--Con-Men replies:
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Hillz, why no mention of your picture under deluded,
imbecilic, idiotic, moron? I only mention this since you called me a neanderthal.
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bobxburnham says:
It is a real sign of ignorance when Republicans who fostered Mc Connell's statement at the very beginning of Obama's first termthat " we will never work with Obama; we wil only work to defear=t him". How can any person develop ny trust and warmth for peoples who have been against him since the beginning.
I admire Obama for being as decent in his view of those who hate him!
I see him as being the prince amog a bunch of blunder heads.
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stamicrach says:
The GOP was hoping for an olive branch.??!!

Where has the GOP been for the last four years.?

Their every move (or lack thereof) has been an attempt to make the US a country of the 1% and bring the US to it's knees.

I am no fan of Obama.

I absolutely despise John Boehner.

It boggles my mind that the Republicans and the American people have allowed this man to refuse to do what he knows he should to get the US back on track.

Just in case you weren't already aware of this; Boehner has been operating outside the Constitution for the last four years.

Give a person little bit of authority or power, and it goes right to their head.!!

Fools that they are; the GOP has chosen him to be the Speaker of the House for the next four years.

By that time; Americans will be standing in bread lines and using ration coupons for gas.

This is party politics at it's absolute worst.

The best thing the US could do would be to give this whining, blackmailing, corrupt obstructionist $50 and put him on a plane to Indonesia.

The sooner we get rid of this creep; the better off we will all be.!
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MTATL670 says:
"Where was Obama's outreach" There is no need to even comment on something so laughable. It is the GOP that needs to 'outreach'
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lelandt1 says:
President Obama reached out to Republicans for 4 years only to have his hand slapped every time, without exception. It is now time the Republicans reach out to him. No matter what he says to them it will never be enough because Republicans really want the president of the NRA to be the President of the United States. Maybe Republicans will finally learn that is not going to happen but that seems unlikely. Republicans are interested in ideology, not governing. You can lead a fool to knowledge but you can't make him think!
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bobxburnham replies:
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You have one thing wrong with your comment. Republicans really want Grover Norquist to be President( 0r dictator). They want John McCain to be head of the Gesapo to eliminate any wayward Democrat and start small wars in any country who wants their own way of life.
All the average people deserve to live the end of thir lives in poverty.
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