After tonight’s address, The New York Times observed that “Mr. Obama is most engaged when his back is to the wall.” But, as I watched the President’s speech, it occurred to me that we may have once again underestimated him. The real issue is not President’s Obama’s degree of engagement, but that we have once again been lulled into thinking that, when the punches fly, Barack Obama won’t stand up. On the campaign trail, then-candidate Obama time and again emerged most powerfully when the public believed it least possible. At some point, we should no longer attribute President’s ability to survive these apparent “near death” moments solely to luck or charisma. There is certainly strategy at play.

As the President no doubt understood – if only from observing President Clinton’s experience – there is little, if anything, to be gained by being first in the health care ring. Had the President launched the health care debate by presenting his own, well-defined health care plan, that plan – and by extension the President himself – would likely have been torn apart by both Democrats and Republicans. In addition, President Obama might have been accused of thinking that he knows better than seasoned members of Congress how to tackle an issue that has so confounded his predecessors. Furthermore, members of Congress may well have bristled at being denied an opportunity to deliver victory for their constituents.

Rather than thrusting his proposal upon Congress and the American people from the outset, the President can now legitimately assert his own priorities for the plan. Although those priorities may, on their merits, be unpopular with some members of Congress and the public, he has successfully (if temporarily) positioned himself above the ugliness that has consumed the debate and authentically committed to delivering a better health care system for this country. Further, he has demonstrated to Congress that his leadership is necessary to move things forward.

In short, the President’s relative silence to date on health care reform should not be interpreted as a lack of tenacity or conviction. Rather, as his speech tonight confirmed, President Obama is willing to assume the risks associated with co-branding his presidency with this prickly issue. Admittedly, if the President’s delay in diving in was strategic, this may have been too risky an approach. If Congressional bipartisanship has been too thoroughly trampled in the intervening months, or if the left and right have too hardened in their positions, his delay may be crippling.

Alternatively, this may be exactly the right moment for the President to engage in the unfolding debate, giving him the greatest leverage to insist that “the time for bickering is over” and deliver the “eighty percent” of health care reform on which everyone seems to agree. In making clear tonight his insistence on delivering health care reform in at least some form, the President is providing compelling leadership at a time when the country needs it most. If he can convert his strong words into votes, his approach might have been exactly the right one all along.

Rebecca D. Onie
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Project HEALTH
617.414.3635
onie@projecthealth.org