In a bid to regain command of the faltering health care debate, President Barack Obama next week will make a renewed case for reform to a joint session of Congress.
The unusual and high-profile move is aimed at drawing coverage by the major television networks and creating a new dynamic for the president’s signature policy proposal, after six weeks of diminishing political returns.
The address, which follows an invitation from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, is set for 9 p.m. Wednesday.
“Our nation is closer than ever to achieving health insurance reform that will lower costs, retain choice, improve quality and expand coverage,” the leaders told Obama by letter. “We are committed to reaching this goal.”
Making his pitch to Congress in prime time gives a sense of occasion and consequence to the president’s address, which is expected to include some new details on what Obama hopes to achieve in health care reform. It is Obama’s second such address in six months. He made the case for his budget to a joint session Feb. 24.
But the speech is fundamentally a political one, intended to reverse the monthlong backslide health care suffered in August.
Presidential appearances before Congress tend to be infrequent. The last such presidential address, apart from State of the Union-type speeches, was President George W. Bush’s appearance on Sept. 20, 2001, shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In September of 1993, President Bill Clinton made a speech to Congress in a final attempt to salvage his health care proposals. President Ronald Reagan also addressed a joint session in April 1981, not long after his assassination attempt, to brief Congress on his economic plan.
Top concerns for the White House heading into Obama’s speech are two polls, from Gallup and Rasmussen Reports, showing the president’s public approval rating dropped to 50 percent and 45 percent, respectively.
The White House also wants to get out in front of fallout from August town hall meetings that showed intense public anxiety about health care changes.
In addition, new federal deficit projections showing significant budget shortfalls in the next decade are likely to cool the interest of lawmakers in passing a costly new spending programs.
