Politics 2000

President Obama will speak to a joint session of Congress Sept. 9 in hopes of reviving the flagging health care reform program he endorses. Support of sweeping change in the health care industry has declined during the August Congressional recess.

The break has been dominated by visuals of angry people flooding town hall meetings. Congress resumes Sept. 8. Reform proponents hoped the recent death of Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy would galvanize support for implementing change for which he strongly advocated. Kennedy called health care reform “the cause of his life” during a speech at the Democratic National Convention last year.

However, the desired effect has not come. Obama’s approval rating has dipped to 46 percent, according to a recent Rasmussen survey. A majority of Americans oppose the reform legislation in its current form. Support and opposition is hardening as a majority of respondents either strongly support or strongly oppose the bill.

The speech will likely be aired by the major American broadcast networks, which continue to show mostly reruns during the summer. The 2009-10 television season starts Sept. 21 although select programs will start running new episodes slightly sooner. Even Obama’s television ratings have dropped from the start of his administration in January.

Still, the president is a great speaker. He will likely rally supporters next week and poll numbers will probably improve a bit in new surveys.

However, his biggest problem at the moment is keeping the wings of his party together. In essence, the moderate Blue Dogs fear reprisals if they vote for too much change. The progressive Democrats fear reprisals if they vote for too little change.

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