Obama, aides don't take 'no' for an answer

President Barack Obama was calling from Air Force One while flying back from Cleveland, but second-term Rep. Jason Altmire was in his car and couldn't be reached.

Barack Obama to Indonesia No problem. Obama called Altmire in his office later on Monday to make his case on health care, perhaps the biggest vote either has faced during their careers.

Obama, his Cabinet and White House staff have been reaching out to Altmire and a few dozen other Democrats with increasing frequency.

"When the president takes the time to personally reach out, it makes an impact," says Altmire, 42, from western Pennsylvania, who is undecided on the bill. "He really made an effort to understand where I was coming from."

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That same personal touch is being applied to liberals. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a usually loyal Democrat from Obama's hometown of Chicago, got an invite to come to the White House with other Hispanic caucus members. He expects the White House to use all the perks at its disposal.

"I wouldn't be surprised if at the end, people are bowling for health care, or seeing the latest movie for health care with popcorn," Gutierrez says.

The pressure on wavering House Democrats increases by the day as Speaker Nancy Pelosi prepares to call a vote on Obama's health care bill, which would replace legislation already passed by the House and Senate late last year. Hanging in the balance: expanded insurance coverage for about 31 million people, new rules to prevent those with insurance from losing it, and cost controls to hold down health care inflation.

Pelosi's in pursuit of the 216 votes needed for passage: "I never stop whipping. There's no beginning, there's no middle, and there's no end."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said: "What this is all about is trying to convince enough Democrats to pass this massive health care bill … by any way they possibly can."

The White House and House leaders are using different methods to influence members. With some, says Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, "You've got to give them some time and space."

That's true for Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., who accuses the White House and Democratic leaders of having a "level of hubris" on the issue.

"You know they're calling you because they're part of the team, and they've got to make their best case," says Costa, who has heard from several Cabinet secretaries, whom he declined to name. "No representative likes to be treated like a potted plant."

In other cases, Obama and Democratic leaders shower members with attention. Obama has met with some and called others, says spokesman Robert Gibbs, to say "why this has to be the time where we finally do something about health care."

In other cases, Van Hollen says, wavering Democrats are being assaulted in their districts by ads against the bill, mostly paid for by insurance companies and business groups. In those cases, "You want to make sure that members know that they will get air cover" from positive ads.

That's the case with Altmire, who says there are three "negative" ads running in his district to one "positive" ad. Calls to his office are mostly negative, a trend that increases every day, he says.

Still, he likes changes made since he voted against the House bill in November. There's no longer an income tax increase or an employer mandate, and there's more cost containment, he says.

Altmire was at the White House two weeks ago to celebrate passage of a bill requiring Congress to pay for new spending or tax cuts. Obama sidled over and said, "This is why we need to do health care reform," Altmire recalls.

"And then it became very clear to me," he says, "that's why I was there."