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Democrats made a mistake by passing President Barack Obamas health-care law in 2010 instead of first focusing more directly on helping the middle class, third-ranking U.S. Senate Democrat Charles Schumer said today.

Unfortunately, Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them in electing Obama and a Democratic Congress in 2008 amid a recession, Schumer of New York said in a speech in Washington. We took their mandate and put all our focus on the wrong problem -- health care reform.

Schumer said Democrats should have addressed issues aiding the middle class to build confidence among voters before turning to revamping the health-care system. He said he opposed the timing of the health-care vote and was overruled by other party members.

The plight of uninsured Americans and the hardships created by unfair insurance company practices certainly needed to be addressed, the senator said. But it wasnt the change we were hired to make in the 2008 election.

Schumers comments represent an unusual public intra-party criticism of the way Obamas signature legislative achievement was enacted. The senator spoke at the National Press Club to analyze the results of this months election, when Republicans took control of the Senate and increased their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Asked about Schumers comments, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said, I saw that he talked about the need to have an emphasis on the middle class, and that is something that drives us and this president every single day.

Much of Schumers speech amounted to a critique of the Obama administrations handing of foreign and domestic policy matters before this months election.

As 2014 began, the parties were in stalemate, he said. But, when government failed to deliver on a string of non-economic issues -- the rollout of the Obamacare exchanges, the mishandling of the surge in border crossers, ineptitude at the VA and the governments initial handling of the Ebola threat -- people lost faith in the governments ability to work, and then blamed the incumbent governing party, the Democrats, creating a Republican wave.

The 16-day partial government shutdown in October 2013, which caused Republicans approval ratings to plummet, created an opportunity for Democrats that was quickly eclipsed by the disastrous rollout of the Obamacare insurance exchanges, Schumer said.

The rollout was a glaring example of governments ineffectiveness and became the perfect anecdote for the Republicans anti-government argument, he said.

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Democrats Erred by Acting on Health Care in 2010, Schumer Says