Harold Ford, one of my favorite politicians, says liberals are likely to be disappointed by Obama's speech. The public option isn't being considered the end-all to health reform. People don't understand that unless the democratic party grows some more democrats, the votes aren't there for a public option. People such as Sen. Claire McCaskill don't believe the public option is the only means to get reform, the way liberals have laid it out. So Obama has to find other ways to get enough votes to pass some kind of reform. Something is better than nothing. Once you have something, you can build on it. But if liberals are willing to throw it all out as a complete FAIL, we could all lose.
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Robert Gibbs says Obama will talk about the value of a public option on Wednesday. Gibbs makes it sound as though Obama will continue to make a case for the public option but not demand it:
