Political heat tests the President's calm composure

The Washington Post: For a president "who so famously rejects drama," recent times have marked "one of the wildest policitcal stretches in recent memory." President Obama has said during yesterday's White House speech that, at stake in this legislative struggle is the nation's ability not only to solve health care problems, but "our ability to solve any problem." The Post also notes that "at stake now for Obama is his trademark composure, which will be tested like never before during the next two weeks. With governance already seemingly in disarray, Obama announced that he wants Democrats to push through his health-care reform legislation by calling for a simple-majority vote within the next few weeks. It is a process sure to further inflame the capital, and it raises a question central to Obama's presidency: Will his evenness help ease the disorder around him? Or will the rising tension undo his signature bill?" (Saslow, 3/4).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.