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WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a blunt election prescription for his own skittish party, President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored Democratic leaders to swing big, be honest with an angry public and expose any obstructionism by Republicans.

"We still have to lead," Obama told Democratic senators in a pep talk that unfolded on live TV.

That line alone revealed how much the political dynamic has changed in just two weeks, as Senate Democrats watched their voting numbers slip from 60 to 59 in a special Massachusetts election that sent shudders through the party. That one vote cost them the muscle to overcome Republican stalling tactics, forcing the Democratic president to adapt in hopes of salvaging this year and his agenda.

His advice: Get results, and this year's midterm elections will work out fine.

Let policy be our politics, Obama told the senators, and make sure everyone knows about petty acts by the opposition.

Obama's mission is to stiffen the resolve of his own party as he pursues an agenda that is consistent -- creating jobs, overhauling health insurance, regulating Wall Street -- yet is also cast in more personal, real-life terms.

So Obama went into detail in offering tactical guidance to a room full of senators with decades of election experience, including a handful who face difficult campaigns this year and got most of the camera time with Obama.

The president said lawmakers should do more business in the public eye; tell voters honestly that some problems will take a long time to solve; stop listening to cable TV shows that obsess about Washington's politics; make a case for health care reform without getting bogged down by insider minutia, and call out Republicans when gamesmanship holds up votes.

Obama said he's still confident the American people will re-elect leaders who do the right thing and explain it well. The 2010 agenda is be the topic Thursday when Obama meets with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at the White House.

There was no mention Wednesday of the many other factors, rightly or not, that drive elections, from personalities and negative ads to local issues to a sense of national drift.

"I hope we don't lose sight of why we're here," Obama said. "We've got to finish the job on health care. We've got to finish the job on financial regulatory reform. We've got to finish the job, even though it's hard."

The election season could be hard for Democrats, too. The party in power traditionally sustains midterm losses, and the public is in a sour mood.

Obama's new bipartisanship -- cooperative offers laced with criticism-- was on display. When he recounted the expensive steps Democrats took to halt a deeper recession, he said, "We led." The suggestion was that Republicans did not.

The president said he meant it when he told House Republicans that he wants to work with them. Then he sharply added: "We'll call them out when they say they want to work with us, and we extend a hand and get a fist in return."

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