Obama returns from vacation facing tough health overhaul odds, but has some strengths

"President Obama still has stronger prospects for achieving his health policy goals than surface impressions of the Congressional recess indicate," the New York Times reports. Among the possibilities: A Democratic majority that could pass a bill with help from only a couple of Republicans; a procedural tactic called "reconciliation" that may help block a filibuster; and persuasive memories among Democratic legislators of their landslide defeat in 1994 after letting President Clinton's reform effort sink. On top of that, Obama remains ahead of schedule compared with his predecessors' attempts to overhaul the country's health care system, even as he lags behind his own, self-imposed schedule.

The August recess saw a slide in the president's approval ratings, a decline in the prospects of a bipartisan compromise in the Senate, and "disquieting" protests at lawmakers' town hall meetings. However, "(f)or all the political risks of acting, 'Everyone knows the alternative is worse,' said Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama's chief of staff and a veteran of the Clinton White House. 'Failure leads to failure'" (Harwood, 8/30).

Not all news reports had the same take. "Back from his first presidential vacation, a break truncated by the death and remembrance of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and the nomination of the Federal Reserve chief to a new term, Obama settles back into the Oval Office well aware his approval ratings have fallen,"according to an analysis by The Associated Press. "It will take a huge amount of White House muscle" to keep alive Obama's vision for health reform (Hurst, 8/31).

The president's supporters also hope to turn the tables towards successful reform by reviving last year's campaign tactics, the Washington Post reports. A campaign including "more than 2,000 house parties, rallies and town hall meetings across the country over the next two weeks. ... The DNC kickoff rally in Phoenix attracted about 1,200 reform supporters, but a raucous meeting on the other side of town hosted by Obama's former presidential campaign rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) attracted hundreds more -- most of whom were loudly opposed to Democratic reform proposals." The group also bought a new bus with the slogan, "Health Insurance Reform Now: Let's Get It Done" (Eggen, 8/31).

Meanwhile, "in defiance of the normal rules of American politics, Vice President Joe Biden appears to be solidifying his relationship with his boss and accumulating more assignments central to the administration's agenda," Tribune Newspapers/St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. He was recently asked to play "a bigger role" in the health care reform effort, after successfully using his relationships as a veteran Senator to bring three Republicans on board to pass the stimulus bill. However, Biden's skills come with a price of on-the-record gaffes (Nicholas and Richter, 8/31).