Williamsburg, Va. ? Pushing Congress to pass his economic plan by next week, President Barack Obama implored House Democrats on Thursday to reject delaying tactics and political gamesmanship that often stymies legislation and keep a promise to voters who booted Republicans from power.

“They didn’t vote for the status quo; they sent us here to bring change. We owe it to them to deliver,” the Democratic president said, eliciting cheers and applause from the Democratic rank and file gathered for a three-day retreat.

“This is not a game,” he added. “This is not a contest for who’s in power and who’s up and who’s down.”

In a feisty speech before a fiercely partisan crowd, Obama took a sharper tone than he has in recent weeks and seemed to be sending a message to Republicans, who voted as a block against the plan in the House and who are demanding massive changes to the measure in the Senate.

“We are not going to get relief by turning back to the very same policies that for the last eight years doubled the national debt and threw our economy into a tailspin,” Obama said — an implicit criticism of the GOP that was in power during that period.

Since his inauguration two weeks ago, the president repeatedly has reached across the aisle to Republicans as his economic plan has wound its way through the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Yet, even as he continues to make gestures of bipartisanship, the president has increasingly sought to rebut Republican criticism as he seeks to sell the pricey package to both to the public and the Congress.

In recent days, he’s frequently reminded the GOP who is in charge now — and on whose watch the economy collapsed.

“I found this deficit when I showed up,” Obama said, earning a standing ovation. “I found this national debt doubled, wrapped in a big bow waiting for me when I stepped into the Oval Office.”

One by one, he rejected arguments from GOP critics.

He said tax cuts alone as a way to stimulate the economy are “a losing formula.” He defended how quickly the bill is moving through Congress and belittled those who call the measure simply a spending bill: “What do you think a stimulus is? That’s the whole point!”