Stung by Polls, Obama Plans Health Care Offensive

Prez open to dropping public option
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 2, 2009 11:57 AM CDT
Stung by Polls, Obama Plans Health Care Offensive
President Obama walks out of the Oval Office with, from left to right: health secretary Kathleen Sebelius; education secretary Arne Duncan; and Homeland Security adviser John Brennan.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Obama is heading into autumn with a new strategy in hand: He’s going to get specific on what he wants in health care legislation, reports Politico. He is expected to lay out details in a major address soon, and he will reiterate that he's willing to let the public option go. “We’re entering a new season,” said David Axelrod. “It’s time to synthesize and harmonize these strands and get this done."

Hurting in the polls, Obama also intends to champion tougher rules for Wall Street and highlight what's going right in Afghanistan. But health care will dominate in the fall. “I think it’s fairly obvious that we’re not in the second inning," said Axelrod. "We’re not in the fourth inning. We’re in the eighth or ninth inning here, and so there’s not a lot of time to waste.” (More President Obama stories.)

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