Obama’s Health Care Reform

Barack Obama put it all on the line by deciding to address Congress and Americans to convince them that his plan for healthcare reform would remain his greatest priority. The struggle is grueling, and others before him have not succeeded in persuading them of its merits.

By this vehicle, the president was able to clarify and explain his thinking. By acting in this manner, he retook the reins of a project that has been rather mishandled over the course of the last months, thanks to a deftly orchestrated campaign of fear where the proposed stakes were overridden by distorted interpretations and senseless acts.

His speech on Wednesday, which was considered his best address since his inauguration, will apparently allow the record to be set straight and remind Americans why they elected him to the presidency. Since his election, Barack Obama was never subjected to so much spite and raging hatred from his opponents. He himself even admitted that he had left too much open to ambiguity, a situation that had helped his adversaries, who catered to the lowest common denominator.

Time and several concessions are still needed for the president to make the Republicans – who denounce reform by brandishing the specter of death and euthanasia – swallow the pill of health care reform. He should also continue to reach out to the Democrats in the very heart of his party who worry about the significant changes that he proposes.

The American president has great ambitions for his country where the insurance lobbies never stop making themselves heard. During this time, more than 46 million Americans – according to the most recent figures – still do not receive health coverage. Worse yet, the United States is the only industrialized country not to offer universal coverage to its citizens.

The president must convince [the country] that, beyond partisanship and the $900 billion cost expected over 10 years, his reform is essential to the country’s survival.

As was highlighted by many American dailies the day after his speech, Barack Obama must remind himself that he is no longer campaigning. He no longer has to act like a presidential candidate but, rather, like the big boss of the White House. Let’s hope that his speech will allow the project still blocked by Congress to move forward and that it will clear up a degree of confusion. His determination, his renewed combative side and his openness faced with certain proposals for change should allow, at the end of the day, the reform to be adopted. Failure is inconceivable.