Obama shifts strategy on healthcare reform

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama will seek to widen support for healthcare reform with a new strategy focusing on his goals for a compromise plan, aides say.

Obama, who has seen his job-approval rating fall amid growing concerns about healthcare reform, is considering making his case in a major speech as early as next week, when Congress returns from its August recess, Politico reported Tuesday.

"We're entering a new season," senior adviser David Axelrod said. "It's time to synthesize and harmonize these strands and get this done. We're confident that we can do that. But obviously it is a different phase. We're going to approach it in a different way. The president is going to be very active."

Politico said if the president is willing to abandon the public insurance that option would anger some liberal Democrats but administration officials would keep the pressure on them, arguing some reform is better than no reform.

"We have been saying all along that the most important part of this debate is not the public option, but rather ensuring choice and competition," an aide told Politico. "There are lots of different ways to get there."

The publication said details such as the timing and format of a presentation by Obama have yet to be determined.

"I'm not going to put a date on any of this," Axelrod said. "But I think it's fairly obvious that we're not in the second inning. We're not in the fourth inning. We're in the eighth or ninth inning here, and so there's not a lot of time to waste."