This is a two-person, two-party town now. And President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and incoming House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, need each other -- as both partners and foils while they push their own legislative agendas and lay the groundwork for the 2012 elections. The unlikely duo must find areas of compromise to get something -- anything, really -- done to appease an unhappy electorate demanding economic stability from a government voters don't think works. At the same time, each leader must figure out how to use the other to draw partisan contrasts that will fire up their respective political bases. Both risk the wrath of voters in two years if they fail on either task; nothing short of Obama's re-election, the Republicans' newfound grip on power and the country's economic well-being is at stake. For now, Obama is the one on the defensive -- and it showed in the hours after the election, with Democrats uniformly calling for common ground while the Republicans put conditions on its willingness to meet halfway. Come January if not sooner, Boehner will command greater capital in Washington and sway over the domestic agenda. But Obama must find a way to reboot his presidency by altering his goals, communicating them better -- or both. The first glimpses of how both men position themselves came Wednesday, with each leader addressing the public in the wake of Republicans winning control of the House and cutting deeply into Democrats' Senate majority. 'No one party will be able to dictate where we go from here,' a weakened president said from the White House. 'We must find common ground in order to make progress.' 'I'm not suggesting this will be easy,' Obama added. Boehner signaled as much earlier in the day by claiming Obama's health care overhaul was a 'monstrosity' and needed to be repealed. He also suggested that the Republicans' cooperation was conditional, saying: 'We hope President Obama will now respect the will of the people, change course and commit to making the changes they are demanding. To the extent he is willing to do this, we are ready to work with him.' One by one, Democrats -- their ranks diminished -- weighed in and called for a new approach to working together. Fresh off his own re-election victory, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said he was planning to speak with his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell, about ways to 'build a consensus and move this country along.' The Democrat said the Republican Party must be more open to compromise, adding that 'the time for politics is now over' and Republicans must do more than 'simply saying 'no.'' Still, in a sign of fights ahead, Reid said the health care measure was 'ready for some tweaking' but that he won't support any move to repeal it. There was talk of forthcoming high profile gathering with Obama and new Republican leadership. But the day-after rhetoric was typical for the aftermath of a wave election -- and it was likely to disappear as the hard reality takes shape of two parties with opposing viewpoints trying to govern a country in crisis. In the long-term, the onus is on Republicans and Democrats alike to prove to Americans who are sour on both political parties that Washington isn't broken. Both Obama and Boehner need to show results to keep their jobs in 2012 and, in a split government, the only way to get results is to compromise. Nothing will get done in Washington without the two meeting somewhere in the middle. And from there, divides also will have to be bridged in the Senate, which will have nearly as many Republicans as Democrats. Could this two-party governance force politicians with diametrically opposite viewpoints to find common ground? Maybe. There's no doubt Obama's predicament will invoke comparisons to presidents who also faced a Congress run by the opposition party. But for all the similarities, there are stark differences, too. In the 1990s, Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich partnered to enact welfare reform. But the Republican House speaker then was a personally polarizing figure -- one who alienated the electorate -- in a way that Boehner is not, at least not now. Unlike Obama and Boehner, Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill easily developed an amicable relationship that took the edge off their partisan differences in the 1980s. But even Reagan had to moderate his conservative ideas after Republican losses in the House. Both Clinton and Reagan maneuvered in divided government as the country was trying to recover from recession. But Obama's economy is rebounding at a much slower pace, with just 2 percent growth. One area of potential compromise for Obama and Boehner concerns free trade treaties with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. But many Republicans want to join Democrats and punish China, raising the risk of a U.S.-China trade war. Both parties also are awaiting a December report from a bipartisan deficit commission, giving both sides cover as they try to both meet voters' demands and protect their own politics. -------- EDITOR'S NOTE -- Liz Sidoti has covered national politics for The Associated Press since 2003. 