The Hill News

One of Congress's most reliably liberal members called on Monday for Democrats and Republicans to work more closely together in the next two years.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said that voters didn't want to see either party "dig in," even as some Democrats have said the party needs to be more liberal, and Republicans have vowed not to compromise on core issues.

"I think that what we need to do is to find a way to work together and quit the disparagement that goes on. We have to make sure that we reach out to each other," Kucinich said on MSNBC.

"To dig in and say, 'well, we're not going to work together,' the American people don't want to hear that," Kucinich added. "They really want to find a way for all of us to reach a happy medium."

The Ohio liberal's comments would seem to differ from a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who warned President Obama against cutting deals with newly-empowered House Republican! s on taxes, next year's budget, and other issues.

"You know, he won. McCain didn't. I don't know why he forgot that," said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), co-chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, during a separate appearance on MSNBC.

She said she'd thought Obama would have learned that outreach to centrists in the Senate on healthcare reform â€" outreach which garnered no votes in the end â€" is ultimately fruitless.

The president has spoken out in favor of compromise since the "shellacking" Democrats received in Tuesday's election. Obama has implored Republicans to find common ground with his administration, and has signaled an openness to some agreement on the expiring Bush tax cuts, for instance.

"I think that when we start getting specific like that, there’s a basis for a conversation," Obama said of taxes on "60 Minutes" Sunday night. "And hopefully, we can agree on a set of facts that leads to a compromise."
The debate over how Democrats should rebound from t! heir ele ctoral losses has played out in leadership battles within the House for the party next year. Liberals, for instance, have rallied around outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who's looking to stay as minority leader, while decimated centrists have been reluctant to back Pelosi's effort to stay as Democratic leader.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), a key Pelosi ally, said that her party's members should disregard GOP efforts to demonize Pelosi, since they would look to undercut whomever Democrats choose in the end.

"I think it's important to recognize that the right wing is going to demonize whoever the Democrats choose," she said. "So to that extent, really, whoever the Democrats choose to lead us, the right wing is going to try and diminish them, to lie about them, to demonize them."