http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=1FAE3C28-D000-4CF1-9D9C-5C4E5DA9F724 Joe Biden: ‘Ready to compromise’
By: Jonathan Topaz
November 3, 2014 06:52 AM EST
Vice President Joe Biden says he expects congressional Republicans to work to “get things done” if they win control of the Senate — and he notes the White House is prepared to give a little.
In an interview with CNN released on Monday, Biden said that while he still expects the Democrats to retain Senate control, he believes a Republican-controlled Senate will move beyond obstructionism.
“[G]oing into 2016, the Republicans have to make a decision whether they’re in control or not in control,” the vice president told Gloria Borger. “Are they going to begin to allow things to happen? Or are they going to continue to be obstructionists? And I think they’re going to choose to get things done.”
Biden said Republicans will be particularly inclined to make legislative progress due to increasing public frustration with gridlock in Washington and he added that the White House stands ready to find common ground with the congressional GOP.
“[L]ook, we’re — we’re ready to compromise,” Biden said.
The comments come as the Obama White House contemplates its final two years potentially with a GOP-controlled House and Senate. Throughout his presidency, President Barack Obama and administration officials have often fluctuated between trying to strike legislative compromise with congressional Republicans and railing against them for obstructing their agenda.
Still, despite most electoral models giving Republicans the edge in taking back the Senate, Biden said he thinks the Democrats will hold on. “I don’t agree with the oddsmakers,” he said. “I predict we’re going to … keep the Senate.”
Asked about why this election cycle might prove difficult for Democrats, the vice president suggested that he and Obama hadn’t done a good enough job in assuring the public on threats like Ebola and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
“[T]he president and I have to figure out how to better communicate exactly what’s being done,” Biden said. “That’s part of the problem.”
Biden has been more active on the campaign trail than Obama, who remains unpopular in many crucial states. The vice president in recent days has stumped for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist in Florida and Senate candidate Rep. Bruce Braley in Iowa.
