OBAMA'S HEALTH CARE TOWNHALLS. Barack Obama's been holding his long-promised health care townhalls and, well, let's just say they're not going to net him a profile in courage. At the most recent event, in Des Moines, Iowa, Obama bravely pronounced that, "We shouldn't just put more money into a system that isn't efficient," setting him apart from all those leading Democratic politicians who believe we should fully fund the system's inefficiencies. He also said that, "[w]e can save huge amounts of money and put that money into providing basic health insurance or subsidies to purchase health insurance for those who don't have it," which is true, but banal, and then he really swung for the bleachers by promising electronic medical records. In what was apparently the actually exciting news of the campaign swing, "Obama hinted...that his plan would likely include government assistance for some uninsured to enroll in insurance programs such as those offered to federal employees." So he hinted that he would employ the most utterly inoffensive and widely-accepted pooling mechanism? Lordy be! Look, this is all fine, and Obama doesn't need to offer his specifics yet, and I'm sure what he comes up with will ultimately be decent, and better than the status quo, etc, etc. But as he himself says, " I think [health reform] can be done, but we've got to build a movement in this country behind that during this election cycle so that there's a mandate for that to take place, for the next president." This is the moment -- this election -- when such a movement can be built. And he's not building it. As of yet, he's not creating consensus behind health care reform. He's pushing for increased access, to be sure, but that's a different thing. And it's a frustration, because Obama is a national player now, a bona fide superstar, and his mixture of media stardom, personal magnetism, and political skill render him an ideal vessel for making the case for reform and constructing the mandate -- and grassroots energy -- he himself admits is necessary. What's sadder yet is that obama will only command this moment and mojo for so long, and each day he dithers on creating a plan and committing himself to its controversial-but-important elements is a day he can't use his rare prominence to pull comprehensive health care reform a little closer. A lot of Tapped readers think I'm against Obama. I'm not. I'm just, as of yet, on this issue, disappointed in him. --Ezra Klein
