Obama says his administration should have communicated better with the public about the economy

In an interview with The New York Times Magazine about his economic legacy, President Obama admits his administration hasn't been the best at communicating with the public about the recovery, and says this might have cost Democrats the majority in Congress. "I mean, the truth of the matter is that if we had been able to more effectively communicate all the steps we had taken to the swing voter, then we might have maintained a majority in the House or the Senate," Obama said.

But, the president contends, when his administration was in the thick of fixing the economy, things were moving too fast for them to realize the importance of taking a step back to communicate what they were doing. "We were moving so fast early on that we couldn't take victory laps," Obama said. "We couldn't explain everything we were doing. I mean, one day we're saving the banks; the next day we're saving the auto industry; the next day we're trying to see whether we can have some impact on the housing market."

He also puts some responsibility on Republicans. "If you have a political party — in this case, the Republicans — that denies any progress and is constantly channeling to their base, which is sizable, say, 40 percent of the population, that things are terrible all the time, then people will start absorbing that," Obama said.

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Read Obama's full take on his economic legacy over at The New York Times Magazine.