Sometimes it's worth waiting out the storm.
It will always be impossible to know with certainy what motivates Obama's decisions, but as we progress in the health care debate, his philosophy behind his political maneuvering seems to be coming into focus.
Many have criticized Obama with starting negotiations with a compromise -- that is, starting with a public option instead of asking for universal health care and then haggling down to a public option. However, I've come to believe that Obama, or more likely Rahm Emmanuel, have always understood how hostile and agressive the Republicans would be toward health care, and how effectively they would harness "socialist/communist" name-calling. Perhaps more importantly, they understood that middle class employed citizens and the elderly (basically the majority of voters), who all have health care, wouldn't be initially receptive to a change in health coverage.
This has proven to be the case -- or at least, popular resistance to universal health care has been tangible, even if it's not the majority opinion. Certainly, this resistance is strongly represented in the news media, and that counts for something. But, consider what's beginning to happen.
Most noticeably, health care horror stories (such as the fat baby) are coming out of the woodwork. This was inevitable. Second, the health industry is showing its true colors, with embarrassing studies and inappropriate, and frankly nasty, responses to the sick and dying. It's also no accident that we're suddenly aware of people waiting in line at coliseums (ala post-Katrina), or worse, horse stalls. The Dow is at 10,000 and the deficit is shrinking -- another boon. Last but not least, Republican obstructionism has never been shriller, and Democrats have never been so clear-spoken and righteous (well, some of them anyway).
In short, the environment for passing health care reform today is much better than it was several months ago, because Obama rode out the initial storm. In fact, the popular case for health care reform is so strong that Democrats are clearly benefiting politically from strongly supporting the public option. Honestly, they needed enough time to see that this would be the case.
I don't think Obama been pitch-perfect. The very term "public option" is total ass, insofar as its rhetorical value and clarity of meaning is concerned. And yes, he's been overly concerned with a consensus vote in congress. But generally speaking, his reaching out to Republicans has been incredibly effective in creating the perception that Democrats are working for the people against the do-nothing Republicans.
In the end, assuming we get a decent bill passed, nobody will remember Obama as a "wishy-washy" president. They will remember him as the president who created universal health care, end of story.