President Barack Obama is using political tactics and rhetorical devices honed in his White House campaign to regain the upper hand in the health care debate over increasingly vocal critics.
Obama is trying to counter intense public skepticism that’s flared nationwide in recent weeks over Democrats’ plans to overhaul the nation’s health care system.
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Familiar tools from the Obama candidacy are being used in the struggle: among them the town hall meetings with his sleeves rolled up, a quick-response Web site to douse critics’ claims, chain e-mails and a populist pitch against the entrenched powers in Washington.
Plus he’s now got the bully pulpit.
In campaign mode, Obama is hosting question-and-answer sessions that proved valuable during the presidential race. The Democratic National Committee and Obama’s allies like big drug companies are spending tens of millions on advertising campaigns to influence public opinion. Associates are going out to make the case. The White House is using Internet tools honed during his groundbreaking bid to rally supporters.
Obama is trying to energize his estimated 13 million grass-roots supporters through his campaign apparatus, called Organizing for America. But there are indications that those who turned out in to help elect Obama aren’t doing the same to get a policy passed — evidence of the difficulty in the transition from campaigning to governing.
In Pittsburgh, Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett told liberal bloggers at a conference that the president couldn’t accomplish his goal without them. “I cannot say to you how strongly we depend upon you and your outreach and your network to energize people who are on the ground, not just for health care, but for all the tough issues that are lying ahead,” she said.
Earlier in the week, White House senior adviser David Axelrod asked supporters to forward a chain e-mail to counter criticism circulating online. The White House also began a “Reality Check” Web site “to help Americans clear up health care lies and misinformation.”
Those efforts were reminiscent of the Obama team’s attempts during the 2008 campaign to debunk Internet rumors about his faith and upbringing.
The DNC has created a Web video — “What You Won’t See on National Cable News” — to highlight civil town hall meetings, and Obama also plans to speak to backers by telephone during a health care event Wednesday.
Over the past week, he’s fielded questions from audiences in Portsmouth, N.H., and Belgrade, Mont., as well as in Grand Junction, Colo. Thus far, he’s faced polite crowds, a stark contrast to the taunts and jeers that Democratic lawmakers have endured at similar sessions during their August break.
