Every administration needs "an action-forcing event," he told CNN, adding: "I believe the election will be that event. I expect the president to win. And I think if he does, after this happens, then you will see the logjam begin to break."

Republican strategist Ana Navarro, a CNN contributor, echoed that message Wednesday.

"President Obama's re-election does two things. It frees President Obama to be able to work with the Republican Congress, and it frees the Republican Congress to be able to work with President Obama," Navarro said.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter summed it up succinctly.

"The election is over. It's time for governing and making things happen," he told CNN.

That means bringing Obama's signature campaign word -- "forward" -- to fruition.

"Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny," the president said in his victory speech early Wednesday, "the task of perfecting our union moves forward."