For President Bush, it was a “thumpin.'”  But reflecting on his election defeat at a press conference this afternoon President Obama defined it as a “shellacking.”

In a conference lasting for about an hour, Obama acknowledged the obvious — that his party suffered major defeats. But beyond that, he offered no indication that he would substantially change course as Bill Clinton did after his electoral defeat in 1994.

Obama made overtures of working together with Republicans, seeking common ground, and trying to pursue whatever polices work — but those are all the sort of things he’s been saying for two years, only to reject GOP ideas.

“I’ve been willing to compromise in the past, and I’m going to be willing to compromise going forward,” an indication that by his own definition, he’s already been trying to compromise.

Prompted several times to reflect on his policy decisions that were rejected by the American people overwhelmingly on Tuesday, Obama defended them.

By his own account, he made a series of “tough decisions” that were necessary to avert a second Great Depression, but the problem was that the progress hasn’t been fast enough for the American people. On health care, he refused to acknowledge that his plan was unpopular, and said that the American people didn’t want to “re-litigate” the issue by having a battle over repeal.

Regarding the special deals that were part of passing the health care legislation, Obama said: “When you are navigating through a House and a Senate in this kind of partisan environment it’s an ugly mess when it comes to process.” Yet he neglects the fact that at the time, he enjoyed a filibuster-proof majority. He said he regretted that “we couldn’t have made the process healthier, but I think the outcome was a good one.” So in other words: the ends justify the means.

The only area Obama mentioned reconsidering the health care bill was the 1099 filing provision that imposes a massive burden on small businesses.

At the same time, Obama left the door open for the EPA to bypass Congress and regulate carbon emmissions.

The main takeaway from today’s press conference is that Obama won’t change from his party’s staggering defeat. The only difference now is that when he ignores Republican ideas, he’ll no longer be able to forge ahead and ram his agenda through Congress anyway.