The answers are long, leaving time for just a few questions from a press corps with already-limited access to the president. The press conference, just the fourth formal, solo question-and-answer exchange Obama had held in the White House in 2014, has come to define the current state of White House reporting, one in which there is a gulf between the press and the head of state it’s charged with covering. What I am going to try to do as president is to make sure that I’m advancing what I think is best for the country,” the president responded, not signaling that his executive order on immigration would come just over two weeks later. “I don’t want to try to read the tea leaves on election results. Were the elections a referendum on Obama’s intentions to use his executive power to change immigration rules unilaterally? Major Garrett, correspondent for CBS News and National Journal, tried a two-pronged approach to squeeze some news out of the president, either on the elections or the rumored executive order on immigration policy. Obama, in another lengthy answer, responded that he hoped Republicans would work with him.

Ed Henry of Fox News asked Obama why he was “doubling down” on his approach to Congress, and followed with a poke-the-bear question about whether there was something about Obama’s leadership that was the problem. Obama demurred, calling it “a good night” for Republicans. Perhaps a more provocatively put question might get a more direct answer? Jeff Mason of Reuters gave it a shot, reminding Obama that he had labeled the 2010 midterms a “shellacking,” and asking what the 2014 elections should be called. So the most important things I can do is just get stuff done, and help Congress get some things done,” he added, then went on for what would be a six-minute answer to Pace’s question and follow-up. And they want me to push hard to close some of these divisions, break through some of the gridlock, and get stuff done. “I’m the guy who’s elected by everybody, not just from a particular state or a particular district. And as president, they, rightly, hold me accountable to do more to make it work properly,” Obama said. “The American people overwhelmingly believe that this town doesn’t work well and that it is not attentive to their needs. The president repeated much of the upbeat tone of his opening statement. Given that, do you feel any responsibility to recalibrate your agenda for the next two years? And what changes do you need to make in your White House and in your dealings with Republicans in order to address the concerns that voters expressed with your administration?”

And despite the optimism that you’re expressing here, last night was a devastating night for your party. “You said during this election that while your name wasn’t on the ballot, your policies were.

Julie Pace of The Associated Press tried first. Ten reporters were given the chance to ask questions during the 74-minute press conference, and seven of them asked the president some version of this question: Was it your own fault, and how will you change your behavior and agenda? To each question, President Obama was equally determined not to take the bait, frustrating a White House press corps unable to evoke a note of regret, anger, or introspection from a man who had just learned he would spend the final two years of his presidency tangling with a GOP-run Congress. The day after the 2014 midterm elections was not a time of celebration for the losing Democrats, and the White House press corps was determined to get the party’s most senior member on the record about what was surely a disappointing night for the president.

White house press conference