Obama: Lot of campaign rhetoric gives way to ‘hard, tough realities’ as president

President Obama said GOP candidates looking to change the contours of the Middle East by “talking a little tougher” would be greeted with some hard realities upon entering the Oval Office.

Mr. Obama said he’ll be “working hard” to make sure the next president is a Democrat.

“There’s no doubt that given what the Republican candidates have said that there are going to be some things that I think [were] really important that they’re going to try to reverse,” Mr. Obama said in an interview that aired Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” program.

“Even something as controversial [in] the Republican party as Obamacare — when something works, or the evidence shows that it’s helping people and you want to stop it just for ideological reasons … it turns out to be a little more difficult,” he said.

“Certainly when they start dealing with foreign policy,” Mr. Obama said. “If they think that somehow, by talking a little tougher, they’re going to somehow change the complexities of the Middle East, for example … turns out, that’s not how it works.”

“And so I think there is a really useful awakening that takes place when you walk into this office — a lot of the campaign rhetoric, you realize, has to give way to some very hard, tough realities,” he said.