Deafening

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com Although he has traveled to New England often and speaks about health care virtually every week, Obama has not held a single event focused on the Massachusetts experiment. By contrast, the White House has staged presidential appearances in Wisconsin, Ohio and Minnesota to spotlight innovative models. "The president's silence about the Massachusetts health plan is deafening," Cannon said. Some speculated that Obama has been reluctant to tout the Massachusetts model because it merely underscores how difficult it will be to deliver on his pledge to reduce the average family's health costs by $2,500 a year. "People want to hear about cost savings, not coverage, so it dilutes the message a bit," Cutler said.