According to Marc Armbinder in the Atlantic Monthly, an anonymous White House official told him that Kathleen Sibelius was incorrect when she said a public option was not a key part of reform.
Perhaps part of the diffiuclty in getting everyone unified in support of reform and the president's position is that the White House cannot seem to unify its own team on this issue. In July, it was Rahm Emanuel whose remarks President Obama had to backtrack. In early July, Emanuel told the Wall Street Journal
"The goal is to have a means and a mechanism to keep the private insurers honest. The goal is non-negotiable; the path is."
Now it is Sebelius. According to the Atlantic Monthly online,
An administration official said tonight that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "misspoke" when she told CNN this morning that a government run health insurance option "is not an essential part" of reform...The official said that the White House did not intend to change its messaging and that Sebelius simply meant to echo the president, who has acknowledged that the public option is a tough sell in the Senate and is, at the same time, a must-pass for House Democrats, and is not, in the president's view, the most important element of the reform package.
I am not quite sure what is meant by the president's not viewing the public option as not "the most important element of the reform package." What is the most important option then? Shouldn't he tell us?
Another official confirmed President Obama's support for a public option:
Linda Douglass, director of health reform communications for the administration, said that President Obama believed that a public option was the best way to reduce costs and promote competition among insurance companies, that he had not backed away from that belief, and that he still wanted to see a public option in the final bill.
Then a third official stepped in, off the record, and told Armbinder that Sebeleius did not misspeak and that the media, instead, misrepresented her position.
Considering Obama's seemingly tepid support of a public option at his Colorado Town Hall this weekend and Gibbs' favorable words on co-ops (as Armbinder notes), it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine what the White House position is on health care reform and the public option.
There is simply no room for ambiguity right now. The only way to mobilize democrats solidly behind health care reform is for the president to spell out what he is committing to (and what he will fight for), and his staff needs to form a unified front in representing his position.
This back and forth leads to fighting amongst democrats and causes people to waste energy attacking the President and his messengers instead of the real villains, like Conrad, the Blue Dogs, and the Republicans working to quash the public option entirely, who crow victory every time someone from the Obama administration "misspeaks."
It also makes the president's position look less firm and possibly invites others to think he is on the verge of folding and can be pushed.
(crossposted at http://debunkerhill.com)