Obama Decides To Actually Explain Healthcare Reform

One of the big criticisms of The White House's efforts to get healthcare reform passed has been the failure of the administration to actually explain what it is? Even people who might be favorably disposed towards it have no idea, and so they've been skeptical. Meanwhile, the other side has done a good job of mis-defining it: Socialism with death panels.

Apparently Obama got the message, and so begins details time.

Bloomberg: President Barack Obama may offer more detailed, “prescriptive” proposals as he begins a new offensive to overcome opposition to his efforts to overhaul the U.S. health-care system, a senior adviser said.

“We recognize that we’re entering the final phases of this debate and we’re going to do the things that we think are necessary to bring it to a successful close,” White House senior adviser David Axelrod said in an interview yesterday.

An Oval Office address, the first of Obama’s presidency, or a speech to a joint session of Congress are also being considered, another administration official said.

It might be a tad late, unfortunately. The political climate will be rough on the Democrats this month, as their poll numbers sag, and more pundits predict big losses come 2010.

This will also test Obama's political skills in a new way. On the stump, he's a big ideas guy (kind of like Bush) not eager to get into explaining specifics. However he's the best salesman the pro-healthcare reform side has, and the customer (the public) wants some specifics. So let's see how well he lays out the specs.

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