Obama Speech Reaction Upbeat, but the Sale Wasn't Closed

Shortly after President Obama wrapped up his 47-minute health care speech before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow over at MSNBC and Bill O'Reilly and Karl Rove at Fox presented their head-spinning conflicting reactions.

"A broad and forward-looking speech . . . a touch of greatness," said Olbermann, who allowed, even with all his praise, that it remains to be seen if Obama closed the sale.

Maddow, who holds sway over the progressive Democrats who worried that Obama was selling them out by not fighting hard enough for a public health insurance option, was over the top with compliments. She said Obama's outline to expand health coverage was a "defense of liberalism" and "the most ideological" she has ever heard Obama sound.

The rap on Obama, as some of you know, is that he is too pragmatic, too willing to compromise. That's why he dropped, years ago, his one-time support for a single-payer medical insurance plan.

"Liberals," Maddow declared, "will be happy."

Over at Fox, O'Reilly said for starters the speech was "waaaaay too long," but that's a comment more on the style of the speech than the substance. On the latter, O'Reilly was skeptical: "I hope he has a magic wand," he said of Obama's plans for expanding health coverage while not further busting the budget. O'Reilly said he liked Obama's backing for a national insurance marketplace.

Rove was far more red meat, bringing up the proposal to pay doctors for end-of-life counseling that triggered near hysteria in some quarters this summer. Rove was not letting go.

O'Reilly said gleefully that Obama's commitment to the public option "is gone. He threw it out the window." While Obama said he favors a public insurance option, he said that option "is only a means to an end" and progressives should be open to alternatives.

On CNN, Sen. John McCain told Larry King there were "many things we can agree on" in the speech, though he was concerned about costs and the public option.

Over on Capitol Hill, the most important reactions come from moderate Democrats who are skeptical of the costs and scope of the plans Obama is pushing, as well as Sen. Olympia Snowe, the Maine Republican who could provide crucial support to get the Democrats to the essential 60-vote mark.

There was a sense that many moderate Democrats are keeping the door open a little wider than they did in the past. Obama's speech seemed to at least buy more time and earn a little more attention for the president's proposal before people decide.

Politics Daily has learned that moderate Democrats, including Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mary Landrieu of Lousianna, are meeting Thursday with Obama at the White House. About 15 of them met Wednesday with Rahm Emanuel, the president's chief of staff.

Sen. Landrieu was not completely won over, but she did say "he made a legitimate effort to say, 'Let's try to find common ground.' That is what we're sent here to do. That's what the American people want us to do. And we owe it to them to make our best effort."

In terms of what she can vote for in the future, Landrieu said tonight the idea of a trigger option, which has been floated recently, "might be something we can work with," adding, "We need more clarity, but it's a start." A so-called trigger provision would create a public option only if insurance companies fail to provide broad, affordable coverage over the next several years.

She has been opposed to a public option in the past.

Snowe released a statement saying Obama should have left the public option off the table entirely tonight.

"I appreciate that President Obama shared many of the details of his vision for health reform at this pivotal and historic moment, and signaled a willingness to work across party lines," Snowe said. "At the same time, as I continue to oppose the inclusion of a public option in any package, I would have preferred that the issue were taken off the table as I have urged the President -- given that any bill with a public option will not pass the Senate.''

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), an outspoken progressive who ardently backs a public option, was upbeat about Obama's speech, saying the president knows that the "best opportunity" for a better system "is to create a robust public health insurance option."

A CNN telephone poll after the speech found that two-thirds of those who watched it favored the plans Obama outlined to Congress. The sample of 427 respondents included 18 percent Republicans, 45 percent Democrats and 37 percent Independents.

A focus group in Denver run by Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg found that Obama's use of a letter the late Sen. Ted Kennedy sent him -- to be read only after his death -- evoked a broad positive response. From the grave, Kennedy may continue to have an influence on health care, which he called "the cause of my lifetime."

President Obama goes to Minneapolis on Saturday for a campaign-style health care rally designed, it seems, to keep the Democrats in line, since the chance for GOP cross-overs at this stage is slim.

The reaction that will resonate in progressive corners came from Steve Hildebrand, the Obama presidential campaign deputy manager, who has been a public critic of Obama on health care. Hildebrand told Olbermann, "I think tonight was a game changer." Obama "hit it out of the ball park."

So, the bottom line?

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said, "The speech will only be as good as what happens tomorrow and the day after. We have to go to work immediately on this or it will just be remembered as a good speech. . . . We've got a lot of work to do and the hard work begins tomorrow."

Did Obama get any Republican votes with it? "I don't know," said Dodd. "There might be some. But I think there are people, a lot of Republicans, who might be willing to move at some point on this. They don't want to be on the wrong side of this. They enjoyed August, but August is fading. They're going to have to go home at some point and this issue is there. Having done nothing and just said no, I don't envy anybody who thinks that's a great political position to be in."