Obama restates plan for health insurance
17 01 08 - 14:47
Registered nurse Cherisse Kelsey sat in the audience Wednesday at the Henderson Convention Center as Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama talked about his plan to offer health insurance to everyone.
From time to time, she gazed at her 101/2-week-old Essence.
"I really think Senator Obama can do it," she said. "He's so uplifting and so practical at the same time. He's good for young and old.
"We need health care for everyone."
Obama said Wednesday that negotiations on a new health care plan should be done on C-Span so people can see, for instance, the true positions of insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
He criticized the attempt by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., to provide universal health care during her husband's administration, arguing that negotiations were carried out in secret.
Transparency in government, he said, can lead to far better results.
Shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday, Obama began to exhort those on hand to caucus Saturday for him, suggesting that they appreciate "the fierce urgency of now."
As he has frequently during the campaign, he spoke of how his mother, who was dying of cancer in her 50s, was worried about her insurance.
"It was wrong," he said.
To those who have followed the Illinois senator, his talk to a packed house was familiar. Troops should be removed from Iraq, and money spent on the war can be far better spent on the needs of the U.S. people.
Educational opportunities need to be strengthened, and tax cuts to businesses that move jobs overseas ended.
Fifty-six-year-old Debbie McDonald was impressed.
"You can feel his sincerity," she said.
Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2908.