Obama foresees compromise with GOP on deficit

FAIRFAX, Va. - Ahead of midterm elections likely to produce big Republican gains, President Barack Obama said yesterday that conservative activists are right to be worried about the deficit and he foresees compromising with the GOP on that issue and others.

Responding to a question at a backyard town-hall-style meeting with middle-class residents in Fairfax, Va., Obama extended an unusual olive branch to tea party activists even as he implicitly acknowledged he'll be confronting empowered congressional Republicans after November's elections.

Whether the GOP retakes the House or just makes big gains there and in the Senate, Obama's comments indicated the president has been thinking about how to move forward without the large Democratic majorities he's enjoyed since taking office.

"Where I think we have a great opportunity to work together is on the issue of our long-term debt," Obama told a resident who asked how he planned to work with a Congress heavier on Republicans.

"I have to say I understand a lot of people who are upset on the other side, and some of them were rallying in D.C.," Obama said, referring to a rally Sunday by the FreedomWorks group that attracted tea party adherents.

"I do understand people's legitimate fears about are we hurting our future because we're borrowing so much to finance debt and deficits. I understand that . . . So I think there's an opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to come together and to say, 'What are the tough decisions we've got to make right now?" '

Obama has appointed a deficit commission to come up with ideas and report back after the election, and he said he hoped to move forward then. He also mentioned energy and immigration reform as areas of possible compromise with Republicans.

Still, the president coupled the talk of compromise with familiar attacks on the GOP. He rapped Republicans for holding up a small business lending bill in the Senate.