Charm Offensive

Last night, Pres. Obama traded his bully pulpit for a "Dr. Phil"-like platform and a soft sell on health reform. This a.m. it was Rahm's job to charm the D.C. press corps at the Monitor breakfast. Rahm, as we all know, likes to win. And that, in essence, was his message. No matter what this bill looks like, Obama can claim a victory. In a nutshell, this was his message:

---We've learned the lessons of '93: No one in this WH will let Obama-care go the way of "Hillary-care." The most important lesson: don't draw any lines in the sand. Instead, he noted, the WH will weigh in when Congress hits a "rough patch." Ultimately, we assume, whatever emerges will be re-labeled Obama's bill anyway.

-- Bipartisanship Is More Than Votes: Regardless of how many GOP votes they get, the WH plans to pitch this as a post-partisan document. How? As long as there are GOP "ideas" in the bill and Obama has reached out to the other side, he said, that's bipartisanship. Rahm also didn't rule out reconciliation, simply saying it was "not the goal" for the bill.

-- As we saw during the campaign, and last night, Obama works best when he can be a "vessel" for the needs and desires of the public. Once he becomes mired in the details, he loses that ability.