Obama on ‘Obama 2.0’

President Obama expects Republicans will be more willing to work with him after the midterm elections, regardless of the outcome—if they lose, they’ll realize their strategy of saying no to the president’s entire agenda didn’t work, and if they win, they’ll have to offer the serious proposals that come with a congressional majority. The president also discusses the “tactical lessons” of his last two years in office in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times Magazine, which includes behind-the-scenes White House photos by acclaimed war photographer Ashley Gilbertson. Obama will finish this term by focusing on implementing the sweeping legislation passed since he took office, instead of trying to pass more. Obama criticizes the “mythology” that his campaign made none of the mistakes that have hobbled his administration. Both politics and policy are messy, Obama says. The magazine spoke with two dozen White House officials, one of whom says, “We’re all a lot more cynical now… we were overconfident.” The president has talked a lot about “Obama 2.0” with top aides as he looks past the November elections.