The president returns to the campaign trail again tonight when he addresses Congress – and the nation – to make yet one more push for health care reform.
(At least we won't need signed parental permission slips to watch this speech.)
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs took to the morning talk shows (even Fox, where they won't even be covering the speech because, apparently, it's more important for us to know who can dance than who can pay their premium – or their taxes after all this is over).
Barack Obama made it clear that tonight he will specifically detail his own parameters for acceptable health care reform legislation. Principles, he called them. Without them, "I will not sign it," he insisted.
Oddly enough, neither the president (nor Gibbs, for that matter) would confirm or deny whether the public option is a deal breaker. Guess we'll find out soon enough.
Meanwhile, we're all stuck sifting through the latest details from Sen. Max Baucus' (mildly) bipartisan proposal, which includes that questionable funding mechanism.
So this is what we learned from Hillary's failed crusade back in '92? Sell the public on several plans instead of one? Substitute vague ideas for actual detailed proposals?
It's no wonder ex-governors are still telling ghost stories about death panels on Facebook while Nancy Pelosi rages on about the public option through her Botox. We have yet to see just what it is Obama wants. And, more importantly, how much it will cost.
Maybe we'll get more than soaring rhetoric from the president tonight. Maybe we'll get more than half-baked conspiracy theories from the other side. And maybe – just maybe – we'll all get through this without having to switch careers.
Oh, and maybe you'll get more than wisecracks from me if you follow @BenefitsSelling on Twitter tonight for live updates throughout the speech. See you soon.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.