Obama Lacks Health Care Policy

In the 2008 campaign, affordable, universal health care for every single American must not be a question of whether, it must be a question of how. We have the ideas, we have the resources, and we will have universal health care in this country by the end of the next president's first term.

That is Barack Obama speaking back in January. The quote is featured at the top of his Obama's health care policy page, which is a curious choice. Obama says that "we have the ideas", but right now he doesn't have any. In many respects he is like Arnold, promising policy down the road.

He has built up an amazing campaign in a very short period of time, but Obama has been lacking the depth of answers of his campaign rivals. It has been noticeable on the trail and not just to the experts. LAT:

At a union-sponsored healthcare forum last month in Las Vegas, a questioner pressed Obama for details on his health plan, noting the sparse offerings on his campaign website.

"Keep in mind that our campaign now is, I think, a little over 8 weeks old," Obama said.

Obama promised a detailed proposal within the next few months, after a series of voter forums that started Tuesday in New Hampshire.

Voters will tolerate this for a period of time and it will benefit Obama not to have a proposal that others can try and take down. However, the longer he waits the more annoyed potential voters will get at his lack of specificity.

But after the first session, some participants complained to the Portsmouth Herald, which sponsored the forum, that they found Obama's appearance wanting.

"He gave no specifics. I have no firm idea where he's going," one told the newspaper.

Obama has gotten specific about withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. That has gotten him "a lot of mileage" among Democrats, said Gordon Fischer, a former party chairman in Iowa.

"But it's not the only issue," Fischer said. "Sen. Obama is going to have to — I assume the plan is that he will — eventually put forth a plan for universal healthcare. An education plan. And so on. That time should be coming."

Like any campaign, Obama has hired a bevy of policy wonks who are holed up in a room preparing a plan. Negative publicity like this LAT piece will speed up the timeline. We need to hear a health care proposal from all of our contenders. It is cute that Obama is soliciting policy ideas from his supporters, but that is no substitute for a real universal health care plan.