Gibbs: Obama was also ‘up front’ with Medicare proposals

>> let's put that to robert gibbs . he is willing to mix it up with us because it's part of his job now. on what lawrence was just saying on that proposal and that being something that might be very hard for democrats to swallow, is the president saying what he will do to entitlements?

>> rachel, i think the president has always been up front that we have to make common sense adjustments to medicare . i don't believe that what lawrence is talking about, something that would fundamentally change, as you heard him say the progress that we has made to american seniors. i am reminded of the story on the front page of "the new york times" about the fact that health care being treated differently and treating the patient rather than saying been paid for amputating the leg of a diabetic we pay the doctor to treat that patient and prevent them from having diabetes. those are the kinds of things we can see great savings in the health care system , but i do not think the president will fundamentally restructure medicare in the way that lawrence is discussing.

>> what do you make of marco rubio 's charge tonight? he specifically said that he should not be talking about what he likes about medicare . anybody not talking about what is wrong with medicare is constructing it to bankruptcy. that is very consistent with what mitt romney charged.

>> save a few gauzy lines about immigration reform . that could have been a speech delivered by paul ryan or mitt romney the day before the election, an election, quite honestly, they lost decisively. it really reminds me that all of this effort that is going on in the republican party really is a marketing scheme. it's really about changing the packaging. it's really about putting the candy bar in a different wrapper. the very same thing that romney said the day before the election, they lost decisively. marco rubio picked up the mantle and one more time leading off with the fact that the president believes that the private enterprise system is what causes our faults in america. i will note that the only lurched left was to get a bottle of water. again, i was really struck by the fact that as you mentioned, the president outlined a robust american agenda. don't misunderstand him when he says they deserved a vote. he wasn't just speaking about the parents in that room. i think he was speaking about all american citizens and all the proposals that he outlined, whether it's the minimum wage, clean energy , a whole host of these things. those proposals deserve a boat. that is what we want to see. the contrast of marco rubio giving a personal speech directed not at the country but very personally at the president, i think, is a huge missed opportunity for the republican party . they have to do something differently, or they will continue to lose national elections.

>> whether or not you like republican policy ideas or vice versa , but contrast of the president talking and marco rubio talking about the president did not serve him well.

>> at the end of the speech, again, it was almost as if it was two different speeches. rubio wants to take it big, let's come together and work on these things together. is this the same guy that was just basically blaming the president for everything, including bad weather ? it just seemed very, very -- it will be seen as very off-putting to the people that live in this country and decide elections. it huge missed opportunity.

>> thank you. pleasure to have you here tonight.