Obama: Republican Voters 'Often Agree With Me

President Barack Obama said Republican voters "often agree with" him, and that the positions he's taken were once considered "bipartisan centrist approaches."

In an interview with Parade magazine published online Friday, Obama asserted there's a difference between how Republicans in Washington and actual GOP voters view him.

"Republican voters, if you ask them about my particular policy positions, often agree with me," he said. "So there’s a difference between Republicans in Washington and Republican and Republican-leaning voters around the country."

Obama had been asked how he would talk differently to Republicans if re-elected in November.

"I think that after this election, we’ll be in a position to once again reach out to Republicans and say that the American people have rendered a judgment, and the positions we’re taking are well within what used to be considered bipartisan centrist approaches," Obama said.

Insisting his approach has been "pretty consistent from the start," Obama said he's proposed solutions that were once embraced by Republicans.

"There’s no better example than the health care bill, which was designed originally by the now Republican standard-bearer and is working pretty well in Massachusetts," Obama said. "The Recovery Act that helped us avoid a depression, a third of it was tax cuts. My hope is that the Republican Party, post election, steps back and says, 'Now that we’re not so worried about beating the president, maybe we should spend a little time focusing on solving the problems.'"

Obama insisted he's not the one who has changed during his time in office, but it's the Republican Party that has shifted.

"What’s changed is not me. What’s changed is where the Republican Party’s gone," he said. "In fact, a lot of the things I’ve done are things that Mr. Romney, when he was governor of Massachusetts, seemed to promote. … What’s absolutely true is that we’ve had to take some emergency steps, like saving the auto industry, that weren’t free, that weren’t popular, but were the right thing to do."

(h/t Weasel Zippers)