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I, for one, won't be obsessing about exactly which pieces of proposed reform he emphasizes — because that’s not what's driving the politics. Americans haven't become skeptical about Obamacare because they'd rather shave an extra $30 billion a year off the cost; they have not, contrary to "centrist" fantasies, been turned off by the details of the stimulus plan or cap-and-trade. What has been missing is a vision. And this is probably the last chance to supply that vision.
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Personally, being the cynic that I am, I believe it will be a chance squandered. We'll see, but I don't expect much. As long as 25 - 30% of Americans won't listen to a word he says anyway, and another 20% have been scared shitless by the Republican (insurance industry backed) Noise Machine, anything he says will be ineffectual. As long as the Republicans are dead set on sabotaging and derailing any initiative, the best we can hope for is more insurance company welfare with the burden, once again, falling on us. From what we've seen so far, there ain't enough testicle in the White House or Dem 'leadership' to do what needs to be done.
The 'public option' is little enough (single-payer should still be on the table), without it, there's no point in bothering.
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