Obama faces tough job as Democrats lose influence in Congress:Warren

JACQUELYN MARTIN/AP

President Obama's job will be harder now that Republicans have gained seats in the Senate.

WASHINGTON — The election gives President Obama a choice: Change his ways or continue to go it alone.

On Tuesday night, the White House signaled an attempt to find common ground, announcing that Obama had invited House and Senate leaders to a sitdown at the White House on Friday afternoon.

It’ll be the first chance for both parties to plot a way forward after the dust settles from the midterms.

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), are all expected to attend.

The conclave could provide clues as to how the President and Democrats will deal with diminished influence in a new Congress.

Obama and the Democrats will confront an initial hurdle next month: cutting a deal with Republicans before government funding dies on Dec. 11.

The funding fight might provide Obama with a chance to tack to the political center.

Or he could again portray Republicans as obstructionist and dare them to shut the government and risk popular fury.

J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP

(L-R) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will meet with Obama on Friday.

Another key and potentially contentious issue also looms: In mid-December, Congress must reauthorize the training of Syrian rebels.

In the short term, Obama has big trouble.

His approval ratings are heading south. GOP control of the Senate would mean he’ll have a tough time getting his nominations approved. GOP investigations of his administration will surely increase.

And there’s little guarantee that holding out any olive branches will get him anywhere — Republicans just aren’t interested in peacemaking.

The GOP could well take a calculated gamble that fighting him tooth and nail could help what is their inherently difficult challenge in recapturing the White House in 2016.