Bipartisanship

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Obama's Thanksgiving message cites need for bipartisan cooperation

Posted: November 25th, 2010 -- 11:00 AM ET

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CNN Wire Staff


Washington (CNN) -- President Obama wished the nation a happy Thanksgiving on Thursday and also used his weekly address to renew his call for bipartisan cooperation on addressing major issues facing the nation.

In the remarks usually delivered on a Saturday, Obama said the first family will have the same kind of holiday experienced by millions of Americans -- filled with friends and relatives, good food and football.

"And just as folks have done in every Thanksgiving since the first, we'll spend some time taking stock of what we're thankful for: the God-given bounty of America and the blessings of one another," the president said.

He called for Americans to think about those less fortunate and saluted the "countless" Americans serving their country and communities, from soldiers on guard around the world to volunteers at local soup kitchens and food pantries.

On Wednesday, the first family spent an hour handing out Thanksgiving dinner packages to people at Martha's Table, a local aid organization.

Such service is "emblematic of what Americans have always done," Obama said in his weekly address.

"We come together and do what's required to make tomorrow better than today," he said. "That's who we are."

That means supporting the nation's soldiers and working together to help spur faster economic recovery from the recession, he said.

"But we won't do it as any one political party," he said. "We've got to do it as one people. And in the coming weeks and months, I hope that we can work together, Democrats and Republicans and independents alike, to make progress on these and other issues."

Noting his scheduled meeting on Tuesday with congressional leaders from both parties, Obama said it was time for "a real and honest discussion -- because I believe that if we stop talking at one another and start talking with one another, we can get a lot done."

"For what we are called to do again today isn't about Democrats or Republicans," he said. "It's not about left or right. It's about us. It's about what we know this country is capable of. It's about what we want America to be in this new century."