Obama, Biden rally Democrats at annual retreat

President Obama and Vice President Biden on Friday worked to rally congressional Democrats preparing to do battle with Republicans leading into the 2012 election.

In remarks at the annual House Democratic retreat near the shore of the Chesapeake Bay, Obama rallied the House Democrats with a campaign-style speech in which he defended Democrats’ legislative accomplishments over the past three years, acknowledged that lawmakers have had to make some “tough decisions” and reprised many of the arguments he made in Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

“We righted the ship,” he said. “We did not tip into a Great Depression. The auto industry was saved. Credit started flowing to small businesses again. And over the last 22 months, we have seen 3 million jobs created, the most jobs last year since 2005. . . . A lot of that has to do with the tough decisions that you took.”

Obama left the tough talk to Biden, who earlier Friday delivered searing criticism of GOP leaders and the presidential field.

full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-biden-rally-democrats-at-annual-retreat/2012/01/27/gIQANYBXWQ_story.html