Washington, July 24: Facing the toughest test yet of his young presidency, Barack Obama flew to the American heartland to make a direct sell of his ambitious healthcare reform plans to an American public that may be as sceptical about its wisdom and workability as Republicans and some conservative Democrats are on Capitol Hill.
Mr Obama was yesterday on the stump in Cleveland, Ohio, trying to remind voters that his commitment to overhauling the country’s healthcare system was one of the reasons they put him in the White House. But even as he made his pitch to regular Americans, back in Washington the leadership of his own party in the Senate declared it would not be able to pass his signature proposals until after a month-long recess.
Nancy Pelosi, the House of Representatives Speaker, insists that a bill will pass by the end of the year. But the news was a blow for Mr Obama, who had insisted that both sides of Congress should get their own versions of a healthcare reform bill passed by the end of next week, before their break. Now the best hopes of enacting the reforms will have to be delayed until autumn and the task of persuading the country to back him is harder than ever.
–Agencies