Axelrod and Plouffe Defend Health Care Reform

Senior Advisor David Axelrod told ABC's This Week that "the underlying elements of [the health care bill] are popular and important." And he said the President would stick with it: "The president will not walk away from the American people, will not hand them over to the tender mercies of health insurance companies who take advantage." Axelrod suggested that the message from Massachusetts voters was a more nuanced one that has been reported, noting that 68 percent of the voters in the state's special election said they supported their state's own universal health care coverage plan; he also noted that Senator-elect Brown voted for the plan as a state legislator.

David Plouffe, Obama's 2008 campaign manager who's been brought in to coordinate 2010 Congressional elections, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that Democrats must "pass a meaningful health insurance reform package without delay." He goes on to defend the bill on political grounds:

"I know that the short-term politics are bad. It's a good plan that's become a demonized caricature. But politically speaking, if we do not pass it, the GOP will continue attacking the plan as if we did anyway, and voters will have no ability to measure its upside."

You can read more from the LA Times here.