Obama touts AARP, AMA backing
Posted: Thursday, November 05, 2009 3:12 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
White House, Barack Obama
From NBC's Scott Foster
President Obama took to the bully pulpit today with a surprise stop at the daily White House briefing to tout two influential endorsements of his health care reform plan by the AARP and American Medical Association.
He told reporters he was "extraordinarily pleased and grateful" by the endorsements, and urged Congress to "listen" to both groups and pass the House Democrats' heath-insurance reform bill.
Interestingly, in what clearly was a strategic maneuver by the White House to regain control of the message, Obama's unannounced appearance before the cameras came just as a few thousand Tea Party activists converged on Capitol Hill to rally against the Democrats' health care reform bill.
(Asked about that coincidental timing later in the briefing, spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president was prompted to speak because they were "very important endorsements." Gibbs added, jokingly: "He's a great opening act.")
In very brief remarks, in which he took no questions, Obama argued the endorsements of America's doctors and medical professionals should silence critics of his health care overhaul. "I want everybody to remember," he said, "that the next time you hear the same tired arguments to the contrary from the insurance companies and their lobbyists, and remember this endorsement the next time you see a bunch of misleading ads on television."
It's important to note the AMA isn't 100% behind the House Democratic bill. The group qualified its support saying it "...is not the perfect bill, and we will continue to advocate for changes, but it goes a long way toward expanding access to high-quality affordable health coverage for all Americans..."
With these major endorsements, Obama was optimistic about the prospects of passing the bill, saying: "We are closer to passing the reform than ever before."
Pressed in the briefing over a deadline when it could be passed, Gibbs says the president "... believes we can get this done this year."
Tomorrow, Obama continues his push for his reform agenda with a trip to Capitol Hill.
