Why Obama Won't Get Harry and Louise'd

President Obama spoke from the White House today (at left) about his efforts to pass comprehensive health care reform. Although President Bill Clinton's health care efforts failed in 1994, sources tell the Capitolist that reforms are far more likely to pass this year.

So what's different this time around? A lot. Let's start with...

*The Pitch- Instead of framing health care coverage as a "right" all Americans should enjoy, no matter the costs (a traditional Democratic message), Obama is framing health care reform fundamentally as a cost issue. Today at the White House, he said the spiraling costs of health care are affecting all Americans, businesses and the government for the worse, forcing the Congress and the White House to step in and make changes.

*The Process- Many of the staff working on health care reform today also worked in the Clinton White House, where they learned how not to get health care passed. Rather than sending a bill to Capitol Hill to get picked apart, the White House has given enormous leeway to Congress to craft its own bill, based on the president's goals of containing costs, letting people keep their own insurance, and insuring every American. They have also sought input from the health care and insurance industries early in the process. With more people feeling like they have a stake in the outcome, Obama is betting he'll have more allies during the fight.

*The Politics- President Obama has chosen to remain the face of the health care reform effort, rather than farm it out, as Bill Clinton with Hillary Clinton. Not only is Obama is far more popular now than HRC was in 1994, he does not face the same organized and tactically gifted opposition that Bill Clinton found with Newt Gingrich and the rising '94 House Republicans.

*The Reality.- A combination of job losses and skyrocketing insurance costs mean that six million more Americans are uninsured today than in 1994. Even Harry and Louise, the face of the Republican opposition in 1994, starred in a new ad in 2008 (below), paid for by Families USA, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and others, urging the next president to pass health care reform as soon as possible. H & L say they know many more people now without health care coverage and are worried about how the cost of health care will affect their own friends and families.

Circumstances could change and plans could go awry, but the playing field for Obama to make his move on health care is better than any Bill Clinton ever had....