Vice President Joe Biden has an op-ed in the Sunday New York Times making the case for - you guessed it - “historic” health care reform.
Biden, who names former DNC chairman Howard Dean as one of the bill’s critics, says he wanted a public option and is the first to admit the legislation isn’t perfect.
“Those in our own party who would scuttle this bill because of what it doesn’t do seem not to appreciate the magnitude of what it has the potential to accomplish,” he wrote, adding: “But if the bill dies this week, there is no second chance to vote yes.”
Another key line from Biden’s submission: “While it does not contain every measure President Obama and I wanted, I would vote yes for this bill certain that it includes the fundamental, essential change that opponents of reform have resisted for generations.”
We told you last week that drumbeat would get louder, and the message has been echoed by Democratic leadership and a White House itching to secure a deal before Americans tune out for the holidays.
Coupled with Vicki Kennedy’s Washington Post op-ed about what her late husband would have wanted, the White House is making sure their message about the good things in the bill is heard loud and clear in the coming days.
Regardless of how the big upcoming votes go next week, chances are there are going to be a lot of health care conversations around dinner tables this holiday season.