WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Sunday Republicans' misplaced priorities are gridlocking politics in Washington, not President Obama.
"[Obama] has offered a grand bargain, and [Republicans] have refused to bargain," he said in an interview on ABC's "This Week." "The Senate leader for the Republican Party said, 'My No. 1 goal is to make President Obama a one-term president.' Now, that's very hard to bring bipartisanship when that's the operating principle of the other side."
Emanuel, who spoke on behalf of Obama in Iowa at the Democratic party's annual Jefferson Jackson dinner, offered criticism on the Republican field of presidential candidates, particularly Mitt Romney.
"Mitt Romney says he's a man of steadiness and consistency. And if that's true, then I'm a linebacker for the Chicago Bears," Emanuel said at the dinner.
He added to that Sunday, saying the GOP candidates are "espousing the same policies that have been tried before and led to the present economic situation that the president inherited in 2009."
