Unplugged: Obama's Health Care Push Dissected
In a roundtable, CBS News' Bob Orr asked Republican spokesman Alex Conant if he thought the president presented a clear course for health care during his prime time press conference last night.
"Not a lot of specifics in what he was talking about last night," Conant replied, "and we wake up today in the same situation we were in yesterday which is the Democrats in Congress don't have a bill that achieves the goals that the president laid out yet."
Conant lamented that the president "attacked" Republicans during the press conference, "even though we are not the ones standing in the way."
CBS News' Political Director Steve Chaggaris agreed that it is not Republicans in the House of Representatives or the Senate holding up votes on proposed health care plans, "it is moderate Democrats."
Details, Chaggaris said, are what America is waiting for.
"The House has their own ideas. The Senate has their own ideas. The moderates in each of those bodies have their own ideas and President Obama has very vague ideas and did not really offer any specifics last night," he said.
Orr noted that Mr. Obama is in a tricky position because he campaigned on health care, making this initiative his, but has not laid out the details or written the legislation.
"The president is staking a lot of his political capital in the debate but he is not at the table writing the bill," Conant said. He is not providing the leadership that a lot of democrats in congress want him to provide to actually get it passed."
Chaggaris said that Republicans smell blood in the water. "When you are out of power it is easy to be an opponent," he said a Republican critic told him.
"Of course if [health care reform] does work then the Republicans have nothing really to stand on in the future," Chaggaris added.
Watch the full episode above.
More Coverage of Obama's Press Conference:
Obama: Changes Will Make People Healthier
Obama: Cops Acted "Stupidly" in Professor's Arrest
Obama: "Why Not Pay Half Price?"
Obama: Banks Will Act Recklessly Without Reform
Bob Schieffer: Obama Trying to Take Control
Reality Check: Do Obama's Health Care Claims Hold Up?
Jindal Pans Obama's "Marketing" of Health Plan?
Obama's "Stupid" Comment Disappoints Cop
More Video: Opening Statement On Professor Gates Sacrifices For Healthcare Reform? Politics of Medicare Instant Analysis from Bob Schieffer and Nancy Cordes