WASHINGTON — Declaring a new era of shared responsibility, President Barack Obama is imploring Republican and Democratic lawmakers to work with him to revitalize the economy, saying in his State of the Union address the enormity of the challenge is "bigger than party, and bigger than politics."
In brief excerpts of his speech, released before the speech Tuesday evening by the White House, Obama said the American people are counting on their leaders to create jobs in the United States, not watch them go elsewhere.
"At stake right now is not who wins the next election," Obama said. "After all, we just had an election."
In a nod to the new reality of divided government, with Republicans having won control of the House, Obama made a direct appeal for bipartisan lawmaking.
"We will move forward together," he said, "or not at all."
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