"Go out there and win an election" may be the one thing everyone remembers about the government shutdown of 2013.
That was President Barack Obama's mantra on Thursday, hours after Congress passed a deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling.
(Read more: Obama says shutdown slowed growth, hurt credibility)
Obama, widely seen as having won the fight with House Republicans, used an address to condemn Congress for the budget fight and to try and set priorities for the next year.
But it was "win an election" that caught everyone's attention.
"You don't like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there and win an election. Push to change it," Obama said. "But don't break it. Don't break what our predecessors spent over two centuries building. That's not being faithful to what this country's about."
Reaction was swift—and a little shocked.
As some pointed out, they already did not that long ago.
But agree with him or not, the phrase was so memorable it may have overwhelmed everything else the president said.
It may have also gotten people even more agitated than they already were.
—By CNBC.com.