Obama moves to seize momentum in health care debate

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is working to reclaim the initiative from critics of his health care initiative and boost momentum to push his chief domestic priority through Congress.

Obama kept up a steady weekend drumbeat of cheerleading for his health care plan in a campaign-style rally, on the radio and Internet, and on network television. He planned to continue the pace with more events designed to seize control of the health care debate following his address to Congress last week in which he urged Democrats and Republicans to come together.

On the president's agenda for the coming week was a speech Tuesday to the AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh and on Thursday Obama planned to address a rally on health insurance reform in College Park, Md.

White House senior adviser David Axelrod, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs were slated to appear on Sunday's TV talk shows to press the administration's case for health care reform.

"I will not accept the status quo. Not this time. Not now," the president told an estimated 15,000 people during a packed rally Saturday in Minneapolis.

In public, the president is working to energize his supporters and persuade those who have insurance that a health overhaul is just as vital to them as it is to those who currently aren't covered. Behind the scenes, the president's team and key Democratic lawmakers are in intense negotiations aimed at cutting a deal that can pass Congress -- with or without Republican backing.

GOP leaders say they agree with Obama that the current health insurance system needs a change, but argue his plans are too costly and won't work.

"The status quo is unacceptable. But so are the alternatives that the administration and Democrats in Congress have proposed," said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the minority leader.

Obama is pushing to create a new government health plan to compete with private insurance, but he's stressing that no one would be forced to choose that option, and that he's flexible on how to set it up.

In a CBS' "60 Minutes" interview to air Sunday night, Obama said he's focused on overhauling health care the right way. "I have no interest in having a bill get passed that fails," he said. He acknowledged he will "own" whatever measure passes Congress, effective or not.

Meanwhile, protesters gathered Saturday in Washington to vent their fury at Obama and his vision for health care reform in a demonstration that drew thousands.

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