What Progressives Don’t Understand About Obama by Ishmael Reed

Deeper Looks at the Crisis of ’08 and the Oval Office by Michiko Kakutani

Echoing what Jonathan Alter wrote about the president in his recent book, "The Promise," Mr. Wolffe writes that "there were few around him who thought health care was the right way for Obama to define his first year," especially given the state of the economy. But the president pushed ahead anyway: in part, Mr. Wolffe suggests, because of memories of his mother’s worries about medical insurance in the months before her death from cancer; in part because it was a priority for the first lady; in part because he aspired to be a great, history-making president and liked to "take on the toughest political challenges he could find"

Reading David Plouffe's book, I learned that heath care reform was the number one priority for Democratic party primary voters.