Bill Clinton to Rally Senators on Health Care Reform

ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: Former President Bill Clinton will travel to Capitol Hill Tuesday to rally Democratic senators on health reform.

The House passedits sweeping health reform package on Saturday, but efforts have stalled in the Senate.

A cost assessment process has delayed introduction of a bill in the Senate and internal Democratic squabbles of whether to include a public option have brought into question whether Democratic leaders can cobble together the 60 votes they will need to bypass a Republican filibuster.

Clinton, whose own attempt to pass a health reform package fifteen years ago did not pass either House of Congress, was asked by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to make the pep talk, according to an aide familiar with the discussion. Clinton is expected to speak to Democratic senators at a closed caucus meeting, urging them to see past differences to pass compromise legislation, according to Democratic staffers.

Hillary Clinton: ‘Absolutely No Interest’ in Another Presidential Run; ‘No’ to Running for Governor or Senate Again, Too

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is probably going to face the questions for the rest of her life. But she’s strongly disavowing any interest in seeking elected office again in her career.

Asked by ABC’s Cynthia McFadden in an interview in Moscow if she’s “never going to run for president again,” Clinton responded:

“I have absolutely no interest in running for president again. None. None. I mean, I know that’s hard for some people to believe, but, you know, I just — I just don’t — I feel like that was a great experience — you know, I gave it all I had, I’m giving this job all I have. I try to live in the present, so it just seems, you know, that — that’s not in my future.”

Asked whether she’s contemplating resigning to run for Senate again, she said: “No. I am neither frustrated nor planning anything other than being the best secretary of state I could be.”

Asked about rumors that she’d run for governor of New York, Clinton responded: “No. No. I love the fact that there’s so much . . . curiosity about what I might do, but I’m so focused on what I am doing, I really can’t imagine why anybody would have time to think about something in the future.”

Clinton also talked in detail about President Obama’s request for her to serve as secretary of state, and why she ultimately said yes: “If I had called him, I would have wanted him to say yes.”

She also said she’s surprised by how much “one-on-one” time she gets with the president:

“I am shocked at how much time I spend in the White House. I mean, you know, for people on the outside, the idea of going to the White House for a meeting must seem like the most important, serious, even glamorous kind of thing to do. But I’ve been there so much, it’s . . . I say, oh, my gosh, I have to go to the White House again,” Clinton said.

“I spend so much time every week. I spend it in meetings with others in the White House. I spend it in meetings in the Situation Room, particularly given everything that’s going on. And I spend it one-on-one with the president. So there’s an enormous amount of interaction, which I find fascinating.”

Watch more of Cynthia McFadden’s interview with Secretary Clinton tonight on “World News,” with the full interviewing airing on “Nightline.”

Bill Clinton Says Right-Wing Conspiracy Now After President Obama

ABC News' Kristina Wong reports: Former President Bill Clinton says the right-wing conspiracy that attacked him during his presidency now is after President Obama.

When asked whether the “vast right-wing conspiracy” is still present today, the former president answered without hesitation, “Oh you bet.”

“It's not as strong as it was because America has changed demographically, but it's as virulent as it was,” Clinton said today on NBC's “Meet the Press.”

“Right-wing conspiracy” was the term used by former first lady Hillary Clinton to describe the tactics her husband's political enemies used to attack his presidency after revelations of his affair with Monica Lewinski.

“I mean they may be hurting President Obama,” Bill Clinton said of the current attacks. “They can take his numbers down, they can run his opposition up, but fundamentally he and his team have a positive agenda for America. Their agenda seems to be wanting him to fail, and that's not a good prescription for a good America.

“I mean, they're saying things about him just like when they accused me of murder and all this stuff they did, but it's not really good for the Republicans or the country, what's going on now,” Clinton said.

Repeat of 1994?

When asked to compare his administration's unsuccessful attempt at health care reform to President Obama's current push, Clinton said the president has been at a “terrible disadvantage in the law-making phase.”

“He has a better Congress than I did. And he doesn't have a committee chairman that I had demanding that he present a bill,” Clinton said. “So [Obama] said, 'OK, I'll let you develop the bill.' Well, while they're developing the bill, he's set out certain principles and he is vulnerable to whatever anybody wants to say about any of the bills moving through Congress — whether that's his position or not.”

But, Clinton said, the current situation will not lead to a “repeat of 1994”, when Democrats lost 15 seats in the House for the first time in 40 years, crippling progress on his administration's agenda.

“There's no way they can make it that bad, for several reasons,” Clinton said.

For one, he said, “The country is more diverse and interested in positive action.

“Number two,” he added, “they've seen this movie before, because they've had eight years under President Bush, when the Republicans finally had the whole government, and they know the results were bad.

“Number three, the Democrats haven't taken on the gun lobby like I did and they took 15 of our members out … so whatever happens, it will be manageable for the president,” Clinton said.

Hillary 2012?

Clinton said he was content with his current life in the non-governmentalsector.

“I love what I do now,” he said. “And while I can't touch as many lives and things as I did as president, the things I do focus on, we can have a huge impact on,” he said.

Asked whether his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, would run for president again, he chuckled.

“That's up to her,” he said. “We're not getting any younger. But I'm proud of what she's doing now. I think she's doing a great job.

“I think it's pretty thrilling that she and the president just have established the relationship they have, and I think it's a good argument for reconciliation and remembering the good things for all the rest of us.”

Bill Clinton Says Right-Wing Conspiracy Now After President Obama

ABC News' Kristina Wong reports: Former President Bill Clinton says the right-wing conspiracy that attacked him during his presidency now is after President Obama.

When asked whether the “vast right-wing conspiracy” is still present today, the former president answered without hesitation, “Oh you bet.”

“It's not as strong as it was because America has changed demographically, but it's as virulent as it was,” Clinton said today on NBC's “Meet the Press.”

“Right-wing conspiracy” was the term used by former first lady Hillary Clinton to describe the tactics her husband's political enemies used to attack his presidency after revelations of his affair with Monica Lewinski.

“I mean they may be hurting President Obama,” Bill Clinton said of the current attacks. “They can take his numbers down, they can run his opposition up, but fundamentally he and his team have a positive agenda for America. Their agenda seems to be wanting him to fail, and that's not a good prescription for a good America.

“I mean, they're saying things about him just like when they accused me of murder and all this stuff they did, but it's not really good for the Republicans or the country, what's going on now,” Clinton said.

Repeat of 1994?

When asked to compare his administration's unsuccessful attempt at health care reform to President Obama's current push, Clinton said the president has been at a “terrible disadvantage in the law-making phase.”

“He has a better Congress than I did. And he doesn't have a committee chairman that I had demanding that he present a bill,” Clinton said. “So [Obama] said, 'OK, I'll let you develop the bill.' Well, while they're developing the bill, he's set out certain principles and he is vulnerable to whatever anybody wants to say about any of the bills moving through Congress — whether that's his position or not.”

But, Clinton said, the current situation will not lead to a “repeat of 1994”, when Democrats lost 15 seats in the House for the first time in 40 years, crippling progress on his administration's agenda.

“There's no way they can make it that bad, for several reasons,” Clinton said.

For one, he said, “The country is more diverse and interested in positive action.

“Number two,” he added, “they've seen this movie before, because they've had eight years under President Bush, when the Republicans finally had the whole government, and they know the results were bad.

“Number three, the Democrats haven't taken on the gun lobby like I did and they took 15 of our members out … so whatever happens, it will be manageable for the president,” Clinton said.

Hillary 2012?

Clinton said he was content with his current life in the non-governmentalsector.

“I love what I do now,” he said. “And while I can't touch as many lives and things as I did as president, the things I do focus on, we can have a huge impact on,” he said.

Asked whether his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, would run for president again, he chuckled.

“That's up to her,” he said. “We're not getting any younger. But I'm proud of what she's doing now. I think she's doing a great job.

“I think it's pretty thrilling that she and the president just have established the relationship they have, and I think it's a good argument for reconciliation and remembering the good things for all the rest of us.”

By RICK KLEIN

If all the cards are on the table, there?s an awful lot of bluffing going on. And if the stakes get any higher, is someone bound to walk away?

The bluffing may be from a White House that won?t really drop the public option, not entirely. It may be the liberals who won?t really block a reform bill, even if they don?t like it. It may be coming from the moderates whose Septembers won?t be as noisy as their Augusts.

A speech, particularly one with the kind of expectations likely to surround the week-long build-up to Wednesday?s address to a joint session of Congress, isn?t going to grease the legislative skids by itself.

But in its symbolism and its (expected) substance, it suggests that President Obama is taking a cue or two from former President Bill Clinton — after spending much of the year trying to do precisely what Clinton didn?t.

President Clinton?s address to the joint session of Congress marked something of a high point in that debate — though the debate was just starting 16 years ago this month. After that night, Americans pretty much knew what the president wanted done (whether they agreed with it or not).

We?re not yet at that point of specificity from Team Obama — by design and by circumstance. And there aren?t many strategy shifts available after this.

Is this a healthy acknowledgement? ?We?re at a point in this debate where we?ve been talking for months and months, all the ideas are on the table,? senior adviser David Axelrod told ABC?s Jake Tapper.

?Now it?s time to close the deal,? Axelrod told Tapper, on ?Good Morning America? Thursday.

Tapper: ?This is clearly not Plan A.?

How about some expectations management: ?Aides said Obama will use the speech to add more specifics to his vision for overhauling the nation's health system,? Anne E. Kornblut, Ceci Connolly, and Shailagh Murray write in The Washington Post. ?He will be attempting a difficult balancing act, seeking to win moderate Senate Democrats to his cause without embracing compromises that would alienate liberal House Democrats. He is not expected to associate himself with any one bill.?

No plastic card this time? ?For better or worse, the high-profile speech is likely to tie Obama closer to the issue in the minds of Americans. Almost exactly 16 years ago, then-President Bill Clinton also attempted to break a logjam on health care in Congress with a prime-time address to lawmakers, and his administration's efforts ended in spectacular failure.?

ABC?s George Stephanopoulos, on ?GMA? ?That speech was at the very beginning. . . . This is more at the beginning of the end.?

Obama will ?basically lay out the bill that he wants? — including a universal mandate and insurance reforms, and maybe a public-option trigger mechanism, as discussed by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, per Stephanopoulos.

Props may work? Time?s Karen Tumulty: ?Bill Clinton launched his health reform effort with a joint session address in September, 1993, one in which he waved a bright blue plastic card labeled ?Health Care Security Card.? It was a prop, yes, but an effective symbol of his commitment to providing every American health coverage that could never be taken away. . . . What's more important than a speech right now is a strategy.?

The part of the last effort Obama wouldn?t mind seeing again: ?Clinton also took healthcare reform to a joint session of Congress, and polls showed a surge in public support. But he made his pitch before his administration had worked out the specifics. And by the time the plan was unveiled, opponents had turned public opinion and the effort failed,? the Los Angeles Times? Peter Nicholas and Janet Hook report.

The move is ?an acknowledgment that the president?s prior tactic of laying out broad principles and leaving Congress to fill in the details was no longer working and that Mr. Obama needed to become more personally involved in shaping the outcome,? Robert Pear and Jackie Calmes write in The New York Times.

Will it be prescriptive enough? ?But the officials said Mr. Obama was unlikely to unveil a detailed legislative plan of his own. And they insisted that Mr. Obama had not given up on the provision that has attracted the most fire from the right, a proposal for a government-run competitor to private insurers, although many Democrats say the proposal may eventually be jettisoned,? they write.

Bad memories: ?Some Obama advisers, wary of parallels between [Clinton?s] effort and Mr. Obama?s push for an overhaul of the health system, had argued that the president should give a televised speech from the Oval Office instead of the House chamber.?

Why it?s maybe not the ideal setting: The image will be an ?audience that is very quick to cheer and quick to jeer,? Stephen Hess, a presidential historian at George Washington University, tells Bloomberg?s Julianna Goldman and James Rowley. ?The commentary will be how divided the Congress is, not united, by doing it this way.?

The perfect stakes, per Karl Rove: ?Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) was inartful but basically correct when he said if Mr. Obama loses on health care, ?it will be his Waterloo.? It would destroy confidence in the ability of Democrats to govern,? Rove writes in his Wall Street Journal column. ?He has used up almost all his goodwill in less than nine months, with the hardest work still ahead. At the year's start, Democrats were cocky. At summer's end, concern is giving way to despair. A perfect political storm is amassing, and heading straight for Democrats.?

Tom Daschle quotes Ted Kennedy Jr. — to basically agree with Rove: ?As we stand, once again, at the bottom of the hill, the challenge is daunting,? he writes in the Journal. ?If we lack the ability to successfully address the urgent problems of health care in our country, the American people and the rest of the world will rightly question our ability to tackle other challenges, domestic and global. And needless to say, given the dominance of my party in the White House and in Congress, Democrats will be to blame.?

Listen up, Mary Landrieu and Ben and Bill Nelson: ?The choice between complete legislative failure and majority rule should not pose a dilemma for any Democratic senator,? Daschle writes.

Try this on: ?If Snowe drops off the bill, using the budget reconciliation process will probably be a necessity,? Ezra Klein writes at his Washington Post blog. ??Passage becomes much less certain, which means a scaled-back bill becomes much more likely. This is the irony of the health-care endgame: The bill becomes much more conservative if it loses its final Republican.?

As big as they come: ?If soaring oratory has often been Obama?s saving grace, the health care reform address he?s scheduled to deliver to a joint session of Congress next week is his riskiest effort to date ? a high-reward gamble with significant potential downsides,? Politico?s Carrie Budoff Brown and Glenn Thrush write.

The move ?raises the stakes after a month of contentious town-hall meetings and falling public support,? Richard Wolf and John Fritze write for USA Today.

Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., is ready for some frank talk: Obama should tell the nation, ?We cannot achieve what many people had hoped at the outset, and we should be ready to strike a deal,? she tells The Washington Post.

The detail that will get the most attention: Obama ?consistently has refused to insist on a government-run program to compete with private health insurers, a top goal of liberals, even though he says he prefers such an option. Axelrod called the public option important, but stopped short of saying it was essential to a final bill,? per the AP?s Chuck Babington.

(And this, according to CMAG: ?In one measure of the intense opposition Obama and his allies faced this summer, opponents of the Democratic effort outspent supporters on television commercials in August for the first time this year.?)

The warnings, on the public option: ?Why would the White House step away from something that is going to weaken their side and that isn?t going to pick up a single vote on the other side?? Richard Kirsch, national campaign manager of Health Care for America Now, told ABC?s Teddy Davis.

?If you?re interested in health insurance reform, the public option can?t go away — it?s essential,? Richard Trumka, the AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer and president-designate, told reporters at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.

Warnings from the other end? From the AP write-up of Sen. Blanch Lincoln?s, D-Ark., town hall Wednesday night: ?U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln says she won't suppport a government-funded insurance option as part of an overhaul of the nation's health care system. Dozens of people repeatedly shouted at Lincoln as she spoke before a crowd of more than 800 people packed into an arena at Arkansas Tech University on Wednesday. At one point, an audience member repeatedly shouted and referred to advisers to President Barack Obama as ?Communists.? ?

The what-went-wrongs begin: ?A look back suggests the president and his allies may have ?overlearned? the lessons of President Bill Clinton's 1993-1994 health-care defeat,? Jonathan Weisman, Neil King, and Janet Adamy write in The Wall Street Journal. ?They expended great effort to line up the support of health-care insurers, pharmaceutical makers and care providers, believing that by keeping them around the table, they could win over Republicans and stop the kind of industry-led attacks that helped sink the Clinton plan. But this strategy left out the wooing of public opinion, which was being affected by broader events, including the economic crisis and anger over bank bailouts.?

Also looking back, Time?s Joe Klein: ?It has been widely observed that Obama overlearned the lesson of the Clinton health-care effort by deferring to Congress to write the legislation. It has been less widely observed that the President overlearned the lesson of Bush's hyperpoliticized Justice Department by leaving to Attorney General Eric Holder the decision about whether to investigate the CIA for torture abuses.?

New Thursday: A Web video from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, starring House Minority Leader John Boehner, Rep. Michele Bachmann, Dick Morris, and Glenn Beck. (And Hitler, Marx, Castro, and Grandma.)

The New York Times gets an early copy of Ted Kennedy?s autobiography: ?In a memoir being published this month, Senator Edward M. Kennedy called his behavior after the 1969 car accident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne ?inexcusable? and said the events might have shortened the life of his ailing father, Joseph P. Kennedy,? Carl Hulse and John M. Broder report.

?Mr. Kennedy also said he had always accepted the finding of a presidential commission that a sole gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, was responsible for President John F. Kennedy?s assassination. Robert F. Kennedy grieved so deeply over the killing of the president that family members feared for his emotional health, Mr. Kennedy wrote, saying that it ?veered close to being a tragedy within a tragedy.? ?

And: ?Mr. Kennedy wrote of a secret meeting in the spring of 1967 between President Lyndon B. Johnson and Robert Kennedy, whose increasingly outspoken criticism of the war in Southeast Asia was becoming a political threat to Johnson. According to the book, Robert Kennedy proposed that Johnson give him authority to personally negotiate a peace treaty in Vietnam. This implicitly would have kept Robert from running for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination, a prospect that worried Johnson.?

(Plus: ?Mr. Kennedy also complained that [Carter] White House meetings had been barely tolerable, in part because no liquor was ever served during Mr. Carter?s term. ?He wanted no luxuries nor any sign of worldly living,? Mr. Kennedy wrote.)

Vice President Joe Biden gives a stimulus update at 10 am ET, at the Brookings Institution in Washington. Per his office: ?Vice President Biden will highlight how the Recovery Act is contributing to the overall state of the economy and improving economic conditions across the country.?

McClatchy?s Steven Thomma has a preview: ?Vice President Joe Biden will claim Thursday that the $787 billion stimulus plan ?is doing more, faster, more efficiently, and more effectively than we had hoped.? In a speech planned to mark the 200-day mark since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act took effect, Biden will say that $62.5 billion in tax cuts have been delivered, $1.9 billion contracts have been awarded to small businesses, and more than 10,000 transportation projects approved.?

Just in time: ?After winning $2.3 million in federal stimulus money for a sewer project, officials in Auburn, Maine, wrangled another prize from Washington: permission to forgo American-made manhole covers for a design made only at a Canadian foundry,? Alan Wirzbicki reports in The Boston Globe.

?As local governments race to spend stimulus money, many are seeking exemptions from the law?s ?Buy American? restrictions, which were intended to prevent taxpayer money from ending up in foreign pockets. . . . The Obama administration could not provide a list or amount of waivers granted — which potentially could total billions of dollars — and Vice President Joe Biden?s office, which has responsibility for overseeing the stimulus, did not respond to requests for comment.?

(Here?s guessing they?ll be asked again to respond.)

Also fueling outrage this Thursday: ?In an acknowledgment that the Department of Education provided lesson plans written somewhat inartfully, surrounding the President Obama?s speech to students next Tuesday, the White House today announced that it had rewritten one of the sections in question,? ABC?s Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller report.

?As one of the preparatory materials for teachers provided by the Department of Education, students had been asked to, ?Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.? Today, after Republicans accused the White House of trying to indoctrinate school children with liberal propaganda the White House and the Department of Education changed the section to now read, ?Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short?term and long?term education goals.? ?

The Washington Times? Matthew Mosk: ?Presidential aides acknowledged the White House helped the U.S. Education Department craft the proposal, which immediately was met by fierce criticism from Republicans and conservative organizations who accused Mr. Obama of trying to politicize the education system.?

Is the bloody sock getting tossed in the political ring? (Probably not, but it?s a great story in the meantime — and may be Republicans? best shot at a Senate seat in Massachusetts.)

?I have a lot on my plate so as of today, probably not,? Curt Schilling told New England Cable News, per ABC?s David Chalian.

Later, on his blog: ?While my family is obviously the priority, and 38 Studios is a priority, I do have some interest in the possibility. That being said to get to there, from where I am today, many many things would have to align themselves for that to truly happen.?

State GOP spokeswoman Tarah Donoghue, to The Boston Globe?s Matt Viser: ?We?re thrilled so many Republicans are considering a run for US Senate. We have a real opportunity here.?

(Bush White House spokesman Scott Stanzel remembers Schilling?s first foray into politics.)

Coming Labor Day, from American Rights at Work: Two new ads making the case for the Employee Free Choice Act.

And the summer wedding that never was (or, at least, hasn?t been yet): ?Here?s a newsflash: Chelsea Clinton did not get married last month in a swank, celebrity-laden wedding on Martha?s Vineyard attended by the president of the United States,? The New York Times? Peter Baker writes. ?The persistence of the rumor despite the lack of tangible evidence says something about today?s free-for-all Internet media culture, where facts sometimes don?t get in the way of a good story. It also says something about the Clintons and the mistrust they have engendered over the years that so many people do not take them at their word, even over a question like this.?

The Kicker:

?I am making sure I get inoculated from all illnesses by going to town meetings.? — Sen. Russ Feingold, on ?The Takeaway? radio program, on how he?s preparing personally for H1N1 flu.

?Actually, my first press conference could probably be my last as someone on the political scene, which probably wouldn?t be a bad thing.? –Curt Schilling, prospective Senate candidate, on his lack of a ?filter? in public statements.

For up-to-the-minute political updates check out The Note?s blog . . . all day every day:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/

ABC News' Elizabeth Gorman reports:

In a personal account of her trip to the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, Secretary Hillary Clinton reiterates her mission “to banish sexual violence,” in an op-ed she penned for People.com today.

“Our commitment to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence did not begin with my visit to Goma, and it will not end with my departure,” she writes.

Secretary Clinton's article comes two weeks after she began her first official tour of Africa, where was struck by the brutality of the war in the eastern Congo, and where she made her first public appeal to end gender violence there as the secretary of state.

She described the experience as an “incredibly emotional, overwhelming experience.”

In the op-ed Secretary Clinton details a visit to a displacement camp in Goma, where she says that on average, 36 women are raped every day. She also visited a hospital where she spoke to pregnant women who were attacked.

“Many of these people have been robbed of their homes, possessions, families and, worst of all, their dignity,” she says.

Then turning from a personal account to an official one, Secretary Clinton says “the United States condemns these attacks and all those who commit them and abet them. They are crimes against humanity.”

Last week, Secretary Clinton committed the U.S. to $17 million in aid to victims of sexual crime in the DRC, which includes money for the investigation into the crimes and new technologies like cameras.

“We are redoubling our efforts to address the fundamental cause of this violence: the fighting that goes on and on in the eastern Congo. We will be taking additional steps at the United Nations and in concert with other nations to bring an end to this conflict.”

The war in eastern Congo has left 5.4 million dead since 1998, according to Secretary Clinton.

On the same trip, the secretary of state made big headlines for “losing her cool,” after she was asked by a Congolese student for her husband's opinion on African trade deals — rather than her own.

Bill and Hillary Clinton on Vacation in Bermuda, In Path of Hurricane Bill

ABC News' Kirit Radia reports: Currently vacationing in Bermuda are Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, where the aptly named Hurricane Bill is set to brush by the island.

The couple arrived yesterday and were expected to stay several days, but may leave early depending on the storm. That decision has yet to be made ? at latest, the Clintons are still on the island.

Though the hurricane?s winds have slowed slightly in the Atlantic, the Bermuda Weather Service issued a hurricane watch Thursday to prepare those on the island for a severe storm over the next 36 hours.

By TEDDY DAVIS

Don?t blow this chance.

That?s the message that Bill Clinton delivered Thursday night to Netroots Nation, a conference of liberal bloggers and activists meeting in Pittsburgh.

Clinton, who lost control of Congress after health-care reform died in 1994, said it is ?politically imperative for the Democrats to pass a health care bill now.?

?One thing we know and that I?ve lived through — if you get out there and you don?t prevail — the victors get to rewrite history,? said Clinton.

The former president said he favors the creation of a government insurance option.

He cautioned his audience, however, not to lose sight of the opportunity they have now with a Democratic Congress and urged them not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Clinton offered his advice as health-care reform was causing the House web site to strain from public overload and as President Obama was preparing to head west to sell his health-care plan.

The president is holding a town-hall meeting today in Montana and has another one planned for Saturday in Colorado.

As reported yesterday, a coalition of groups led by the pharmaceutical industry has launched a pro-Obama $12 million TV ad campaign, pushing health insurance reform in states where Democratic members of Congress are under pressure on the issue.

While the $12 million ad buy from Americans for Stable Quality Care will provide significant air cover for Democrats, the second-day coverage of the ad notes that the pharmaceutical industry?s participation in the coalition comes with a political downside.

?The groups in the coalition were brought together by the White House in its continuing effort to broker deals,? writes Kit Seelye of the New York Times. ?Some of those deals, especially with the drug companies, have angered the political left, where critics say that for the sake of harmony, the administration has compromised too much and reneged on a campaign promise to rein in drug prices.?

Per the Washington Post?s Anne Kornblut: ?The pharmaceutical industry has pledged to provide $80 billion over the next decade to help cover the costs of the overhaul, reportedly in return for an administration promise that Medicare would not be allowed to negotiate drug prices with the industry.?

In his Friday column, the New York Times? Paul Krugman pats himself on the back for foreseeing the troubles that Obama would have in creating a ?different kind of politics.?

?The question now,? writes Krugman, ?is how Mr. Obama will deal with the death of his post-partisan dream.?

Netroots Nation:

The premiere 2010 Senate Democratic primary will be on display at 11:00 am on Friday when Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter (D) and Rep. Joe Sestak (D) ?debate key issues? at the Netroots Nation conference in Pittsburgh.

Other Netroots Nation highlights include: former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean holding a 9:00 am ET health-care town-hall meeting with bloggers on Friday and White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett holding a 9:00 am ET conversation with bloggers on Saturday.

Gone Fishin?

Adam Nagourney of the New York Times reports that Obama?s trip out West is going to include a few hours of trout fishing in Montana. Jim Messina, the president?s deputy chief of staff, who grew up in Montana and Idaho and is a wildlife enthusiast, will be taking him.

Messina disclosed the president?s plan while talking at the Project New West conference in Denver. ?I?m going to take the leader of the free world fishing. And I plan to talk a little bit about public access,? said Messina.

While recently discussing his ?take-no-prisoners? reputation with National Journal magazine for his ?Decision Makers? profile, Messina said, ?I didn?t get this job because I?m cute.?

New Job for Hagel?

Fmr. Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) is ?in line? to co-chair the President?s Intelligence Advisory Board (formerly known as the President?s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board), reports the Washington Post?s Al Kamen.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver

Vice President Biden will attend funeral services today for Eunice Kennedy Shriver. The funeral mass is being held at St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis, Mass.

McKinnon: ?Santorum Is Dangerous?

Mark McKinnon, a former top adviser to President Bush and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has penned a column for the Daily Beast in which he excoriates Rick Santorum as the former Pennsylvania senator begins exploring a 2012 presidential run.

?Santorum represents, in my view, much of what is wrong the in the Republican Party,? writes McKinnon.
McKinnon, a former Democrat who did not want to work against Obama in last year?s general election, focuses his critique on Santorum?s eagerness to win at all costs. With Santorum slated to travel to Iowa on Oct. 1, it?s a clip ?n save.

Sunday Preview: This Week

Be sure to tune into ABC?s ?This Week? on Sunday morning for a full discussion of health-care reform. The guests will be HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter (D), and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (R). The roundtable will include former RNC chairman Ed Gillespie, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, Atlantic Media political director Ron Brownstein, and Anne Kornblut of the Washington Post.

This Week will be anchored by ABC Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper. (ABC?s George Stephanopoulos is off this week).

The Kicker:

?One good day in New Hampshire does not a campaign make.? –Fmr. President Bill Clinton in a Thursday night speech to Netroots Nation.

?In terms of the liberals backing off, I don?t think they?re backing off a bit. I think they?re getting more and more aggressive. There are many progressives who believe that without a public option, it?s not health-care reform at all. There are many Democrats who believe that with a public option it is going to be very difficult to get health-care reform passed. At some point, the Obama administration ? the President himself ? is going to have to weigh in on that question because he?s ?the decider,? if you will. I mean, I hate-? –Democratic strategist Steve McMahon while appearing Thursday on ABC?s ?Top Line?

For up-to-the-minute political updates check out The Note?s blog . . . all day every day:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/

In “major” speech Clinton will warn Iran about engagement timeline

ABC News' Kirit Radia reports:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will deliver what her aides are touting as a “major” foreign policy address this afternoon, a day before she leaves on her first foreign trip since breaking her elbow in a fall last month.

Some view the speech as Clinton's attempt to “elbow” her way back into the administration's foreign policy limelight. The injury sidelined her for much of the past month, causing her to cancel trips and meetings and miss President Obama's recent trip to Russia, Italy, and Ghana.

The speech is likely to focus on the “big picture” foreign policy approach, according to State Department officials.

According to excerpts of her remarks provided this morning, Clinton will hold the door open for talks with Iran despite Tehran's crackdown on political protestors following last month's election. But, she will warn Iran the offer will not be on the table for ever.

Clinton will call the political crackdown in Iran “deplorable and unacceptable” but adds that “We remain ready to engage with Iran.”

“The opportunity will not remain open indefinitely,” Clinton will say, though the excerpts do not define how long the Obama administration will keep its hand extended to Iran.

Bill Clinton to Raise Money for Maloney

ABC News’ David Chalian Reports: The Obama White House and Sen. Charles Schumer have worked diligently to try to clear the Democratic primary field for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. in the Empire State, but to no avail.

And Bill Clinton appears to be complicating matters by headlining a fundraiser for Gillibrand foe Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) in Manhattan on July 20. However, an aide to the former president says that should not be perceived as an endorsement of any kind.In fact, former President Clinton also served as the headliner for a Gillibrand fundraiser back in March.

After giving some very public consideration to the race, Rep. Maloney has made her decision to challenge Gillibrand for the Democratic nomination next year, according to Paul Blank, a senior adviser to the Maloney campaign.

“When we agreed to do this event, it was a ‘thank you’ event for her House account as a way of saying thanks for all her HRC work in 2008,” said the aide to the former president who was referring to Maloney’s support for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign last year.

Of course, all $1.3 million sitting in her House campaign account (as of March 31, 2009) is completely transferrable to a Maloney for Senate campaign account.The Senate campaign account is expected to be created within the next two weeks timed to a formal Maloney announcement which is likely to occur prior to the July 20 fundraiser with Bill Clinton.

As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is unable to return all those endorsement and campaign favors by hitting the fundraising circuit for some of her strongest allies and supporters. So it is left to her husband to help fill the campaign coffers of those who came out strongest for his wife during her losing primary battle against Barack Obama.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel recently described to reporters how he nudged his friend and former colleague Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., out of the race by making clear that the full force of the White House would be behind Sen. Gillibrand.

“I just told Steve, on my back porch off the office, ‘We’re going to be involved in the primary helping her and I don’t want you to get into the race and find out after the fact,’” Emanuel said.

A Marist Poll released yesterday showed Sen. Gillibrand has her work cut out for her in the primary. In a statistical tie among Democrats, Rep. Maloney takes 38 percent of the primary vote compared to Sen. Gillibrand’s 37 percent.

To be sure, it will be much easier for Sen. Gillibrand to woo New York Democrats to her campaign with the support of President Obama, Vice President Biden, Schumer, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and most of the New York Democratic establishment.

Nevertheless, Rep. Maloney sees an opening in an election where more than 50 percent of the electorate comes from New York City and its surrounding suburbs.Sen. Gillibrand has been carefully calibrating her positions, statements, and public schedules with an eye toward that Democratic primary electorate now that she is no longer just representing a Republican leaning upstate New York house district.

Rep. Maloney’s formal entrance into the Senate race timed to the previously scheduled Clinton fundraiser is no coincidence, and likely designed to provide the appearance of an endorsement.But reading the tea leaves of who Hillary Clinton would like to see as her elected successor in the United States Senate can be a tricky business.One adviser to Bill Clinton suggested that Rep. Steve Israel almost entered the Senate race and he too would have received a “thank you” fundraiser.