President Obama continues to press for a government-run health insurance program even as the Senate Finance Committee submitted a draft which leaves out the public option in an attempt to foster a bipartisan deal.
President Obama spoke to members of The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) at a Labor Day rally this past weekend in an attempt to solidify his fractious Democratic base and bolster support for his health care agenda. He used campaign tactics that he hasn’t utilized since the election drive, leading chants and cheers and criticizing Republicans for their inability to fix the health system.
Congress is returning today after a month-long recess where members heard from angry constituents over the proposed health care plan. Almost immediately upon their arrival, the President plans to revive his health care agenda with a speech to a special joint session of Congress on Wednesday. The usual tactics of empty eloquence and pretty words combined with a charm and grace won’t work for him this time as he faces a Congress that wants specifics about how he expects to reform health care.
In the health care debate so far, Obama has offered only soft oratory for his ideas. The speech is expected to reiterate Obama’s support for the public option, despite pressure from Republicans and moderate Democrats to back off the idea. This will be a decisive event as the political stakes on health care continue to rise.
The public, the majority of which are already skeptical about health care reform, must be convinced if the Democrats hope to close out this year with a win and hold their overwhelming majorities in both houses. According to Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, “The Democrats have put so much political capital in getting health care done that if they don’t achieve success, it’s going to hurt their credibility to accomplish anything else for the rest of the cycle.”
Tomorrow night, Obama will face a crucial test which will most likely determine the success or failure of a health care bill with a public option in Congress. Obama will need to present real, genuine specifics for reform. His strategy of recycling previously popular moments in presidential grandiloquence will not work for him this time.
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