Barack Obama announced in his economy speech that he would be "partnering" with Elizabeth Edwards on health care if he is elected president. Elizabeth Edwards is John Edwards' wife.
"By the way, I'm going to be partnering with Elizabeth Edwards, we're going to be figuring all this out."
Those words were not in his prepared remarks, just added into his
speech on economy in Raleigh, North Carolina. (The second link is to his prepared speech which doesn't include the remark he made about partnering with Elizabth Edwards)
Many might remember that while John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama, Elizabeth Edwards had not and
previously Elizabeth Edwards had spoken about the healthcare issue and shown a preference for Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan over Obamas.
The interview was on Good Morning America back on April 9, 2008, and she said,
"You need that universality in order to get the cost savings. … I just have more confidence in Sen. Clinton's policy than Sen. Obama's on this particular issue."
Edwards, who was seated in the front row for Obama's address, had said she liked Clinton's plan better because it included a requirement for people to obtain insurance. Those favoring the so-called individual mandate say it's the only workable way to cover all 47 million Americans without insurance, and Clinton often said that Obama would leave 15 million people behind.
Obama's plan, at least for now, focuses more on affordability. He and supporters of this approach say if policies are affordable, people will buy coverage without being forced.
Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 and in
March of 2007, it was announced that the cancer had returned.
The GOP's response to Obama's speech can be listened to
right here and insists that Obama's plan is not affordable to the taxpayers with Senator Richard Burr stating on a conference call that,
"It’s gotten acceptable this year to make claims and not to back those claims up with facts.”
