But it did bring some Republican concessions.
Republican concessions, however, may only set up larger confrontations in the coming months over spending, taxes and immigration.
Democrats say they intend to resist any major changes in the popular entitlement programs without some significant Republican concessions on taxes and new revenue.
Republican concessions were not enough for Southerners, and Lincoln refused to bend on the issue of keeping slavery out of the territories.
Those proposals are still on the table when Congress reconvenes this week, aides said, and are serious options that Democrats could accept in exchange for Republican concessions that raise revenues.
Many reports in the past hour or two suggesting that Obama is about to cave on the fiscal cliff — water down his tax demands in return for some minor Republican concessions — concessions that won't involve taking the debt ceiling off the table.
But Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate have joined with their Republican counterparts to rule out any long-term deal — Republicans because they refuse to consider tax changes and Democrats because they will not consider changing the popular benefit programs without Republican concessions on revenues — especially with midterm congressional elections approaching in 2014.
"I mean, why vote if you're going to nullify what we said?" On Tuesday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev). declared that "the District of Columbia should do what they want to do". By Tuesday night, however, Reid had surrendered on that point, presumably in exchange for Republican concessions that were more important to him.
Privately, in an emergency meeting of Democrats on Thursday, he encouraged them to hold their fire, to "leave the door open" to potential Republican concessions.
And in the aftermath of the election and the Republicans' concession on tax hikes for the wealthy, both sides seem to have dug in more deeply.
