The Washington Post reports that the White House is engaged in some "soul-searching" after the brutal election loss:
The advisers are deeply concerned about winning back political independents, who supported Obama two years ago by an eight-point margin but backed Republicans for the House this year by 19 points. To do so, they think he must forge partnerships with Republicans on key issues and make noticeable progress on his oft-repeated campaign pledge to change the ways of Washington.
Even more important, senior administration officials said, Obama will need to oversee tangible improvements in the economy. They cannot just keep arguing, as Democrats did during the recent campaign, that things would have been worse if not for administration policies.
One adviser said they spent the past dozen days "soul-searching."
Emphasis mine.
I'd like to save you folks in the White House a whole bunch of trouble. When you all look for your souls, you had better find something that looks like JOBS. That is your soul. Your soul is JOBS.
Your soul is not a smooth, orderly process. Your soul is not bipartisan compromise with Republicans. The GOP could care less about "changing the ways of Washington." What independents care about right now is results. Results = jobs. Plain and simple.