Obama: Nation not as polarized as D.C.

David Jackson | USA TODAY

President Obama, under political attack over his health care law and other issues, says Washington, D.C., is much more polarized than the rest of the country.

"Obviously, this year and over the last three years, we've seen a level of polarization that seems unique," Obama told campaign donors Thursday night in Philadelphia.

But, he added, "as you travel around the country ... ordinary folks aren't as polarized as Washington would make us think."

An audience member said "thank God!" and Obama said: "Thank God, yes. That's important. But the only way that we advance the issues that people around the country care about is if we sync up the spirit and the goodness and the decency of the American people with our politics."

In Obama's view, that means electing more Democrats in next year's congressional elections; after all, he was speaking at a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Earlier in his remarks, Obama told donors that "particularly at a time when Washington is so polarized, if we do not have at minimum a Democratic Senate, it is very hard to see how we can make some of the advances that we need to make on work that is still undone."