Economic issues dominate voters' concerns, while health law bubbles on back burner

Though the economy seems to be trumping the health law on the campaign trail, the overhaul is one of the flashpoints in what the New York Times describes as a "philosophic clash" over the role of the federal government. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama, campaigning in Florida, is expected to talk Medicare. In the background, Vice President Joseph Biden says Obama expected the political backlash triggered by the health law.

The New York Times: Economic Fears Hurting Obama, Poll Indicates
But the Times/CBS poll nonetheless underscores a national trendline in which the economy remains the dominant force in the campaign, regardless of outside events like the Supreme Court ruling on Mr. Obama's health care law or the daily sticks-and-stones of the trail (Rutenberg and Connelly, 7/18).

The New York Times: Campaign Memo: Philosophic Clash Over Government's Role Highlights Parties' Divide
At its core, the president's argument is that the every-man-for-himself ethos he attributes to his opponents does not work. Instead, he advances a we're-in-this-together creed born out of his days as a community activist. … Mr. Romney, for his part, has also been a believer in activist government at times, certainly when he was governor of Massachusetts and enacted a pioneering plan to expand health care coverage. But the lifelong entrepreneur in him hears words like Mr. Obama's as a repudiation of the storied American tradition of rugged individualism and the self-made man (Baker, 7/18).

The Associated Press: In Florida, Obama Aims To Keep Pressure On Romney
Obama is expected to make a pitch to seniors in West Palm Beach, where he'll visit Century Village, a condominium complex home to thousands of retirees, long a bastion of reliable Democratic voters. Obama and Democrats have warned that Romney would seek to implement a budget plan authored by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that includes an overhaul of Medicare that would change it into a voucher-like program for those who retire in 10 years (Thomas, 7/19).

Politico: Biden: Obama Knew Health Care Would Cost Him
Vice President Biden said Wednesday that President Obama was fully aware of the political backlash that passing health care reform would cause -; but did it anyway. "Every single time he's made a decision -; and I'm not exaggerating to you -; he sits there, knows the pain it's gonna cost him politically," Biden said on a call with Obama campaign volunteers (Tau, 7/18).