On the campaign trail, Obama to step up health law defense

Advisers expect that, while campaigning, President Barack Obama will talk about the law's specific benefits. In other news, a new ad by GOP hopeful Ron Paul that will run in Iowa targets fellow candidate Newt Gingrich. Health care policy issues are among the items the ad highlights.

Politico: Obama Expected To Launch Broader Defense Of Health Care Law
Though President Barack Obama has largely shied away from entering the battle over health care reform since the law passed, a former Obama health adviser said she expects him to launch a defense of the law on the campaign trail in 2012. "Over the course of the year, he will engage in talking about specific benefits of the law," like a ban on discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions, Neera Tanden, now president of the Center for American Progress, said at Politico's Policy + Politics Conference on Tuesday night. Tanden said it made sense for Obama to focus his messaging on improving the economy instead of continuing to defend the health law. "That's not to say he can't talk about it on occasion a little more," she said (Millman, 12/6).

The Texas Tribune: Ron Paul Targets Gingrich in New Iowa Ad
The Paul campaign is calling the spot "Serial Hypocricy." It cuts between videos that contrast Gingrich's conservative rhetoric with his lobbying activities, which have included consulting for troubled mortgage lender Freddie Mac and for health care firms that supported the much-disputed individual mandate that came with President Obama's federal health reform plan (Tan, 12/6).