President Obama used his popularity Thursday at a town hall meeting in Green Bay, Wisc., in an effort to help make the case to Americans that a health care system overhaul needs to happen this year, Time reports.
"If Barack Obama's town hall Thursday had all the feel of one of his 2008 election rallies - there he was, standing in front of thousands of supporters in a flag-draped high school gym in a swing state - well, that was really the point. The President journeyed to Green Bay, Wisconsin to lend his popularity to the cause of health care reform, hoping to bring to bear all the campaign skills that got him to the White House in the first place." Obama spoke about not delaying the reform while he left the details to Congress to hammer out a plan by year's end.
"Of course, the inconvenient difference between campaigning and governing is that the latter requires actual choices and compromise. In the case of health care reform, Obama at some point will have to deal not only with conservative opposition, but also the expectations of his liberal base. Already, supporters of single-payer health care - a government-financed system similar to that of Canada or Britain - are complaining that they have been shut out of the conversation." What's different this time, Time reports, is Obama's skill at "keeping potential adversaries at the table." As Obama readies to meet with the American Medical Association next week on a public plan, some tenets of which the AMA opposes, Obama may start making his voice a little louder in insisting what he wants, Time reports (Tumulty, 6/12).
The Washington Post says Obama's appearance is part of consensus building and used Green Bay as an example of how to make reform work: "Obama has been adamant that change is needed to rein in health-care costs, which has been far outstripping wage increases in recent years. Obama called Green Bay -- which has better health outcomes and lower costs than many parts of the country -- evidence of the efficiencies that can be achieved through physician collaboration, preventive care and digital records" (Fletcher and Murray, 6/12).
As Obama stumped for support though, his endorsement could make it more difficult for Democrats to cut a deal with Republicans, The Wall Street Journal reports. "Obama said he wouldn't insist on any one approach. Negotiations won't be 'my way or the highway,' he said.
"'Congress doesn't really like you to just tell them exactly what to do,' he said. The president said much the same at the White House on Wednesday when he met with Senate leaders working on health care, according to participants Yet soon after making that point about flexibility, Mr. Obama on Thursday again mentioned the public plan and rebutted Republican opposition to it. 'It's not clear that it's based on any evidence,' Mr. Obama said, 'as much as it is their thinking, their fear that somehow, once you have a public plan, that government will take over the entire health-care system.' Mr. Obama said that isn't true, but that it is important to have an 'option out there for people where … the free market fails'" (Meckler, 6/12).