Barry wants to pass Obamacare ASAP. He will just try to add the public option later.
The White House is saying that President Barack Obama is not demanding the public option in the final version of the pro-abortion, government-run health care bill. The lack of a demand is not yet helping a battle between House and Senate Democrats that could ultimately delay the abortion-funding legislation.
In an interview Sunday with NBC's "Meet the Press," senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said Obama believes the government option is the "best possible choice," but she said he is not insisting on it.
Also, the president's top adviser, David Axelrod, downplayed the importance of a government-run insurance option and he noted how strong opposition to it in the Senate means "we have to work through these issues."
"The president has very consistently and clearly articulated his support for a public option," Axelrod said on ABC's "This Week," but he added, "that doesn't mean that we -- we halt the process."