Obama urges more bipartisanship in surprise press conference

Feb 9, 2010, 19:02 GMT

Washington - US President Barack Obama urged both political parties to work more closely to restart the struggling US labour market, tackle health care reform and cut a burgeoning budget deficit during a surprise press conference on Tuesday.

'There are legitimate and genuine differences between the parties,' Obama told reporters after a meeting with congressional leaders at the White House. But 'there are many issues upon which we can and should agree.'

With Republicans emboldened by a shock election victory in Massachusetts, Obama called out the opposition party for making too few compromises on major legislative efforts. There must be more 'give and take' between the parties in the coming year.

Republican Scott Brown captured the Senate seat of the late Democratic icon Ted Kennedy in a special election in left-leaning Massachusetts last month, robbing Democrats of their super-majority in the Senate and imperiling much of Obama's domestic agenda.