Obama: Republicans will "Play to their Base"

President Obama is starting off the new year with a clear-eyed assessment of the opposition he'll face from Congress this year.

Fresh from a nearly two-week vacation in Hawaii, Mr. Obama told reporters aboard a Washington-bound Air Force One last night that he expects Republicans "to play to their base for a certain period of time."

Indeed, one of the first acts of the new GOP-led House next week will be to vote to repeal Mr. Obama's signature accomplishment, the health care overhaul. Asked specifically what he thought about that largely symbolic vote, Mr. Obama declined to say.

"I think that there's gonna be politics, that's what happens in Washington," the president said. "But I'm pretty confident that they're going to recognize that our job is to govern and make sure that we are delivering jobs for the American people and that we are creating a competitive economy for the 21st Century. Not just for this generation but for the next one."

Incoming House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell will realize, Mr. Obama added, "that there will be plenty of time to campaign for 2012 in 2012."

"Our job this year is to make sure that we build on recovery," he said. "We started making good progress on that in the lame-duck, and I expect to build on that progress when I get back."