Greg Abbott and Barack Obama both spoke to reporters on Wednesday. One sent mixed messages. Here is your Morning Brief for November 6, 2014.

Erich Schlegel, Getty Images
Erich Schlegel, Getty Images
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Abbott Begins the Transition Process

Greg Abbott wasted no time on Wednesday, telling reporters that it was time to put the election in the past and it was time to get to work. According to the Star-Telegram, Abbott also said he would sign an Open-Carry bill.

In a 12-minute-long press conference in the Old Supreme Court chamber of the state Capitol, the newly elected 48th governor of Texas said he would sign so-called open carry legislation if it passes the Legislature, reaffirming a position he made during his just-ended governor’s race.

“Texas, as I understand it, is only one of one of seven or so states in the United States of America that does not have open carry,” Abbott said. “If open carry is good enough for Massachusetts, it’s good enough for the state of Texas. If an open carry bill is passed by the House and Senate and arrives at my desk, I will sign it into law.”

Abbott overwhelmingly defeated Democratic State Sen. Wendy Davis in Tuesday’s elections to extend Republican control of an office now held by outgoing Gov. Rick Perry. Final returns by the Secretary of State’s office showed Abbott with 59.28 percent to Davis’ 38.88 percent, surpassing the 12-point margin that Perry forged over Democrat Bill White in the 2010 race.

Greeting reporters in his first press conference as governor-elect, Abbott, who has served as attorney general since 2002, served notice that he plans to move swiftly to begin tackling his responsibility as state chief executive.

“It’s time to put the election behind us and begin the process of going to work,” Abbott said. “The people of Texas elected elected me to do a job and we begin doing that job today.”

Abbott introduced First Assistant Attorney General Daniel Hodge as his appointee for overseeing his transition into the governor’s office.

He will be inaugurated in mid-January along with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and officials on the transition team will soon begin laying plans for the inaugural ceremony, said Abbott spokeswoman Amelia Chasse.

Abbott, who has used a wheelchair since being left partly paralyzed in a 1984 jogging accident, will be the state’s first new governor in 14 years. Perry, the state’s longest-serving governor, took office in December of 2000 after moving up from lieutenant governor when predecessor George W. Bush became president.

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Obama Sends Mixed Messages

President Obama held a press conference with reporters on Wednesday. According to FOX the President didn't seem to back down from previous threats over executive action.

President Obama, after his party suffered bruising midterm defeats in races that Republicans deemed a referendum on his policies, vowed anew Wednesday to work across the aisle in his final two years in office – while at the same time, vowing to press ahead with controversial executive action on immigration.

The president addressed his party’s losses at a White House press conference. While not going so far as to concede a “shellacking,” as he did after the GOP wave of 2010, Obama readily acknowledged, “Republicans had a good night.”

And he added: “To everyone that voted, I want you to know, I hear you.”

The GOP gained at least seven U.S. Senate seats and built their House majority to historic levels, giving them full control of Congress. The president chalked up the results in part to a frustration with Washington dysfunction. “They want us to get the job done,” Obama said.

On Wednesday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, poised to become majority leader, said the results reflected dissatisfaction with the Obama administration. But he, too, conceded that Washington “dysfunction” was a big factor in Tuesday’s elections.

Both he and Obama vowed to try and work together over the next two years.

Whether that can happen remains to be seen. Both sides have made similar bipartisan appeals before, to little result.

On Wednesday, Obama vowed to pursue immigration action that could quickly sour any bipartisan spirit.

“Before the end of the year, we’re going to take whatever lawful actions that I can take” to improve the system, Obama said. He said he still wants Congress to pass legislation, but wants to figure out “what we can do lawfully through executive actions” in the meantime. He promised that if Congress passes a bill, it would make any executive actions “go away.”

There may be areas of agreement, though, and Obama said he wants to find the “overlap” between his administration’s priorities and those of the incoming Republican-controlled Congress. Obama is calling congressional leaders to the White House on Friday for a meeting.

The president outlined a few agenda points to start with, including a $6 billion request for emergency funds to battle Ebola in West Africa and in the U.S., and a congressional authorization to use military force against the Islamic State.

Shortly before Obama spoke, McConnell held his own press conference and spoke most directly about changing the way the Senate works.

“The Senate in the last few years basically doesn’t do anything,” McConnell said. “The first thing I need to do is get the Senate back to normal.”

Republicans had better be ready for a battle. Obama doesn't plan on backing down and has shown once again that he doesn't care about what the people of this country want. It is all about him.

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