Blue-Pill Politics

President Obama declined last night to ask the American people to make much sacrifice to reform health care.

ABC's Jake Tapper served up the question: Other than the rich, who would pay higher taxes, are the American people "going to have to give anything up in order for this to happen"?

Sure, the president said. Tests that don't make them healthier. And if they're taking a red pill and a blue pill can have the same effect for half the price, they'll have to take the blue pill. In other words, not much.

CBS's Chip Reid gave him another shot: "You talk about cuts in Medicare and they talk about cuts in Medicare, but there are never many specifics. Specifically, what kind of pain, what kind of sacrifice are you calling on beneficiaries to make?" Obama said he would make the system more efficient.

Of course there will have to be sacrifices to wring savings out of the system. The president chose not to delve into them. He read the key talking point--"What's in it for me?"--but answered in generalities. Also talked about kids getting their tonsils out unnecessarily.

Obama made many points at the presser. Many, many points. Many of them at great length. The president is a great explainer, is steeped in the details of health care policy, and tried to tie the issue to the broader problem of the budget deficit. But I kept waiting for him to break some ground, deliver a punchy sound bite, generate a little news. That didn't happen.

Midway through, Salon Editor Joan Walsh tweeted, "I'm going to [tick] people off but this isn't awesome. Yet. Rambling and repetitive. No headline quote."

The president could have shaken things up with a sharp jab at the special interests or the Republicans. After all, the press loves a fight. He chose not to. In fact, he praised three GOP lawmakers who he said are negotiating in good faith.

An hour of prime time is valuable real estate indeed. Did Obama change the contours of the debate? With his own party divided, it's hard to see how.

Obama's most interesting, potentially controversial--and, at times, funniest--answer came in response to Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times, who asked about the Henry Louis Gates arrest. In fact, both "Good Morning America" and "Today" led this morning with Obama ripping the Cambridge cops who put the Harvard prof in handcuffs.

But that didn't get the pres any closer to a health care bill.

L.A. Times: "With many Americans growing anxious about his plans to overhaul the nation's healthcare system, President Obama on Wednesday sought to lay out in personal terms how they stand to gain from the legislation that he has made one of the top goals of his presidency.