The White House wants everyone to know President Obama “completely supports” the Senate leadership as a final bill emerges this week.
In response to TPMDC and other outlets reporting that the White House is pushing back against efforts to include a public option in the merged bill, the White House press shop issued a rare late-night blog post from Dan Pfeiffer.
But Obama himself is unlikely to chime in for several days. He’s meeting with his national security team about whether to send more troops to Afghanistan, then heading to Florida for a meeting with troops.
Tonight Obama will headline a Democratic fundraiser where he’s likely to continue outlining his administration’s accomplishments thus far, reminding activists change doesn’t come easy and asking people to keep fighting.
Tomorrow the president does an event related to energy before heading to Virginia for a big campaign rally with gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds.
So that means unless his schedule changes, Obama probably won’t be weighing in loudly on health care negotiations until at the earliest Wednesday.
Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which is targeting Obama with a new ad, said the president seems to be refusing to fight.
Green blogged last night at OpenLeft the White House needs to understand:
Expressing a preference for the public option is not the same as fighting for the public option. Telling Harry Reid “good luck with that” is not the same as the president saying, “I am there helping Reid fight for those final votes.”
Americans clearly favor a strong bill over a bipartisan bill and are clamoring for President Obama to make good on the mandate for sweeping change that was given to him in the 2008 election. President Obama will be judged by many of his biggest 2008 supporters on whether he fights for a strong public option at this critical moment.
We’ve been getting a lot of reader notes and comments on stories that Obama supporters are frustrated he hasn’t been firmer about the public option, and that he’s been deferential to his former senate colleagues, a charge being repeated privately by Senate leadership aides.
Here’s Pfeiffer’s note:
A rumor is making the rounds that the White House and Senator Reid are pursuing different strategies on the public option. Those rumors are absolutely false.
In his September 9th address to Congress, President Obama made clear that he supports the public option because it has the potential to play an essential role in holding insurance companies accountable through choice and competition. That continues to be the President’s position.
Senator Reid and his leadership team are now working to get the most effective bill possible approved by the Senate. President Obama completely supports their efforts and has full confidence they will succeed and continue the unprecedented progress that is being made in both the House and Senate.
In his blog post, Green mocked Obama’s speech to Organizing for America volunteers last week, where he detailed the good things in “the bill you least like.”
“Does this sound like President Obama fighting for the public option to you?” Green wrote. (TPMDC’s reporting on that talk here.)
