Washington ? President Barack Obama, two days after signaling retreat on a massive health care overhaul, discounted the small-bore approach Friday and pledged to press for ambitious changes despite running into a “bit of a buzz saw” of opposition.

Even as the president sought to bring the public and nervous Democrats back on board, a leading member of his party suggested Congress slow it down on health care, a sign of eroding political will in the wake of Tuesday’s Republican election upset in Massachusetts.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who ushered the overhaul legislation through the Senate’s health committee last year after the death of his friend, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, said Obama and lawmakers could “maybe take a breather for a month, six weeks.”

“Maybe we do need to take this time. Look, it didn’t work, this process,” Dodd said, adding that Obama’s leadership was needed to get things back on track.