17 March 2010 / AP, WASHINGTON
Days away from a make-or-break vote on his fiercely contested health care overhaul, President Barack Obama is turning up the pressure on wavering Democratic lawmakers, as party leaders make a desperate scramble for votes to pass the president’s top domestic priority.
The president is wooing freshman Democrats in the Oval Office, holding at least two one-on-one sessions in the past few days that never appeared on his official schedule, according to aides to two lawmakers invited, Reps. Scott Murphy of New York and Suzanne Kosmas of Florida. Both voted “no” when the legislation passed the House of Representatives on the first go-round last year, but now they’re not ruling out siding with the president and Democratic leaders on what’s expected to be a cliffhanger vote later this week. Another lawmaker who opposed the legislation last year, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio flew with Obama on Air Force One to an Obama appearance to pitch his call for affordable and nearly universal coverage in Kucinich’s district on Monday. The liberal Kucinich, who was against the bill because he wants a larger government role in health care, also is not ruling out voting “yes” this time. Kucinich is one of 37 Democrats currently in the 435-member House who voted against Obama’s legislation when it cleared the House last fall.
