Yeah, I am pretty sure that he is slowly going to prepare for a "shift" on health care.
Let Hillary and Elizabeth take care of it to justify what would arguably be a flip-flop on the mandates.

Smart choice.

John Edwards was the ONLY candidate to embrace Universal Healthcare one payer system. It is the only one that should truly be implemented. This is wonderful news.

I thought about Hillary supporters that might see that as a slight. I hope they don't take it that way. Those two ladies tackling this thing along with Barack would be great.

No one can be a better ambassador to push healthcare reform than Elizabeth Edwards.

I saw Obama live on TV making the comment.

Interestingly, rather than making Edwards collabaration sound like a big deal, he just plugged it between two sentences making it sound like "of course, it's obvious."

I'll be surprised if he just "accidentally" threw her name in the discourse without prior consent or consultation.

mcc and Amelie, Yes! What I hope sneaks in is some kind of one payer system. Maybe there could be some kind of graduated approach...

Oh yes, campaign reporters, best to be on your toes when traveling with Sen. Obama.

Message sent.

*fanning self*

Screw that, act Kucinich to work with you on healthcare, he is the only one who actually has it figured out. I heart Obama, but neither him, nor Edwards, nor Hillary have a truly universal plan. They are all bandaid solutions leaving the rotten core of the profit-driven healthcare system in place. Until we realize that HEALTH needs to be our overarching value in healthcare, rather than PROFIT, we are going to have a broken system.

We need to go much farther than any of the major Democratic plans did.

Smart man. Obama turning to Elizabeth Edwards defuses some of the Hillary-related resentment. Eliz Edwards has been working toward universal healthcare longer than Hillary, at least in this campaign cycle.

Remember, it was Edwards who brought his detailed plan on healthcare to the debate (and it became clear, soon enough, that it was Elizabeth's passion driving it). Later, Obama and Clinton got on-board w/healthcare plans. Much later.

HRC's claim to have been working on healthcare for 15 years was not quite true. She worked on it 15 years ago -- and again, after Edwards brought it up.

Obama continues to impress.

Obama is working on uniting the party, and he is going to include everyone he feels appropriate. This guy is just smart, surrounded by a great team.

And now the latest gallup indicates that Obama is gaining, he is now ahead by 48 to 42 for McBushSame...

I know it does mean much, but indicates that he is just in a good position. This is the end of the free ride for McBushSame...

Obama 08

Folks, this is bare knuckled politics... and of course Obama doesn't want us to see it, but here's what's going on.

Elizabeth Edwards signals that Obama loves strong self sacrificing women... so he can stiff Hillary.

E. Edwards is being asked to work on health care... so he's putting a woman in charge of that issue... stiffing Hillary... but avoiding an accusation that he's anti-woman.

E. Edwards (may she live a long life) has a potentially fatal illness... and everybody knows that drama. What could be more sympathetic than a person with a fatal illness fighting for health care? I hate to point to the political advantage of a serious illness, but don't think for a minute that a smart political team didn't consider it.... and LOVE it.

This is a knife stab at Hillary, disguised as a bouquet of flowers for E. Edwards.

I have nothing against Hillary, other than the fact the she was unelectable, and as VP would doom the Obama ticket. So I appreciate the political dexterity that Obama's choice represents. The man knows how to put a knife in and get everyone to look the other way while it is happening. That's what I call the exercise of political power and leadership.

Remember, it was Edwards who brought his detailed plan on healthcare to the debate (and it became clear, soon enough, that it was Elizabeth's passion driving it). Later, Obama and Clinton got on-board w/healthcare plans. Much later.

Hm, not that it makes a difference, but I will note that much of the general outline of Obama's current health care plan can be found described in his 2006 Audacity of Hope book. (This is of course not the same thing as having a formal plan or treating it as a priority on the campaign trail! But just for the record...)

I dont like neither of the Edwards. they seem fake!

It makes sense to me that Obama would "partner" with Edwards to sort through the difficulties of health care reform/revolutionary change.

Obama has said several times that his model of governing is a kind of "team of rivals" (or something like that), and refers to President Lincoln's selection of advisors from people who at one time opposed him. This seems to be more than a political "stunt," but rather is an attempt to lay out competing visions as points of departure for problem-solving.

I also heard a Webb-Russert conversation yesterday about social class/race/ethnicity/history and voting patterns in Appalachia. The conversation was so thoughtful that I ordered Webb's most recent book as well as his book about the history of the Scots-Irish in the U.S. I hope Webb gets alot of media since he seems to be able to talk about white racial/ethnic identity in a way that engages people.

I hope media and bloggers alike are pushed to be as thoughtful as the people they will be covering (like Goolsbee, for example). The stakes are too high for ideas to be reduced to silly, stupid, "gates."

busdrivermike:
"Oh yes, campaign reporters, best to be on your toes when traveling with Sen. Obama."
I LOVE it!!!!

Also love the idea of bring in Elizabeth Edwards and (I am confident) Hillary Clinton on this issue. He's already mentioned that she'll have important role in this area.

As I understand it, both Obama and Clinton have said that if starting from scratch they would prefer a single-payer system but felt it wasn't really possible to get 'there' from 'here' -- but the Edwards feel that it is possible. So .... there isn't even necessarily conflict if they want to go in that direction.

I think this is a glimpse of what an Obama presidency would (will!!) be like, and I cannot wait. Actually tackling and solving problems? What a novel idea.

Excellent move! Obama is classy! He has his "preferred plan" but we also know he's a compromiser.

From what I understood, Obama is not trying to take the giant step towards 100% universal health care because he'd have to fight to push it through every step of the way. He's trying to put out a reform that he could get passed. Hillary let her perfect become the enemy of the good back in the early 1990's when she was working on the issue. She wouldn't accept anything less than her plan and it eventually failed because of such a stance.

The key is to first open the door, because once it's open, there will be no closing it because no politician is going to run on or look to look to uninsure people. So once the door is open, then you keep pushing it open a little wider and a little wider over time. Expecting to blast the door off the hinges means you will be in the fight of your life to get it passed and it will probably fail and you will have spent a helluva lot of political capital on the failed venture.

Yes, except I wanted HRC to lead the charge. What else will she do? She needs something important that does not have the word "president" in the title.

Perfect!

Once again, the Obama campaign is making all the right moves.

I agree, Jonze - it's never been that Obama WANTS to leave out 15 million or even two people. He's said very clearly that his plan is based on the assumption that if health care is affordable, everyone will get it -- but if it turns out that assumption is wrong, *then* you make adjustments and deal with the problems that mandates and enforcements, etc. brings. (In the meantime, however, you've gotten a health care plan through Congress and it's already working for everyone *except* those who choose not to buy when it's affordable.) They ALL (Obama, Clinton, Edwards) had the same goal - the only dispute is about how to get there.

THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS !!!!! FOR HILLARY !!!!!

OR MAYBE JOHN EDWARDS ???

Does this mean that Jim Cooper is no longer Obama's point man on health care?

This looks like window dressing designed to appeal to the icky women who didn't vote for him.

Maybe he will have a team of rivals on his healthcare commitee. He will do the right thing I am not worried.

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
------Mahatma Gandhi

Senator Obama did two things effectively in one sentence. In a significant way, Senator Obama effectively took Senator Clinton out of the health care equation by naming Mrs. Edwards as his lead health care public and thus effectively bringing in John Edwards as the go-to guy for blue collar workers.

This choice makes sense simply because Mrs. Edwards has first-hand knowledge of how to negotiate our healh care system after shgoing through the process because of her bouts with cancer. An incredibly ingenious strategy.

Now the question should be, what will Hillary -- the democrat health care guru -- do in an Obama administration if not health care? I guess that now leaves her out of the DHHS Secretary spot.

Unfortunately, Senator Obama has a serious credibility gap, given his flip-flopping on other issues, repudiation of his "friend and mentor" of 20 years and his partiality to the high-life.

This is another of his good political moves, to co-opt the dissenters on the healthcare issue (of whom, I am one). His speechifying on "universal" healthcare was obviously phony, since his plan plainly was not universal by any stretch of imagination. The only people making an argument in its favor were on his payroll.

The real question is, will Edwards have any real impact on policy decisions on this issue? Unfortunately, we won't have an answer to that question until next year.

Thanks.

mp

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but Obama is slowly building a coalition right now. It's exciting to see some political personalities getting put into place for the general. I'm interested to see who is else is gonna be utilized. So much talent out there this year...