A lot of politicians personalize the problems of the country. Bill Clinton is a master at this. So too is John Edwards, and even Sarah Palin. Barack Obama does not personalize. He walks slowly around problems. Explains their contours, details their complexities. It is a lawyer's brief rather than an individual's testimony. Tales of his own life emerge as explorations of an archetype, not recollections of a childhood. Which is why his speech this weekend on health care was such a jarring break. "This isn’t about politics for me," he began. "This is personal. I’m thinking today about my mother. She died of ovarian cancer at the age of 53." I've often noted that Obama does not seem particularly comfortable on the subject of health care. He does not drift to it naturally, nor debate it confidently. His plan in the primaries left much to be desired, and his attention to the issue in the general has been almost nonexistent. My working model was quite simple: Politicians have their issues. Health care was not his. But in the past few days, his campaign has released no fewer than four ads on health care. And this speech is far and away the most revealing document on his thinking.
