Days after ending a bitter struggle against him, US President Barack Obama praised Mitt Romney for a terrific job with the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and said he hopes to have the chance to talk with him to discuss ways that "we can potentially work together".
"There are
certain aspects of Governor Romney's record and his ideas that I think could be very helpful. And well, to give you one example, I do think he did a terrific job running the Olympics," Obama said during his maiden press conference after his re-election.
"You know, we haven't scheduled something yet. I think everybody forgets that the election was only a week ago. And I know I've forgotten. I forgot on Wednesday. So you know I think everybody needs to catch their breath. I'm sure that Governor Romney is spending some time with his family.
"And my hope is, before the end of the year, though, that we have a chance to sit down and talk," Obama said in response to a question.
Praising Romney, Obama said that the Republican leader has "skill set", and many non-partisan ideas which he is trying to figure out to use to apply to the federal government.
"He presented some ideas during the course of the campaign that I actually agree with. So it'd be interesting to talk to him about something like that. There may be ideas that he has with respect to jobs and growth that can help middle-class families that I want to hear." he said.
"I'm not either prejudging what he's interested in doing, nor am I suggesting I've got some specific assignment. What I want to do is to to get ideas from him and see if -- see if there are some ways that we can potentially work together," Obama said.