WASHINGTON — President Obama predicted travails ahead for the struggle to pass healthcare reform but offered a hopeful outlook for passage of legislation providing access to insurance coverage for all, saying that "the stars may be aligned" for a deal on a goal that eluded the last Democratic president.
In a C-SPAN interview that aired Saturday, Obama said he was "absolutely committed" to moving forward with a healthcare plan and promised he would announce his Supreme Court nomination soon. The interview covered a broad range of subjects and touched on his family life and work habits in the White House.
The president described himself as a "night owl" who usually tucks his daughters in bed and then stays up until midnight going over stacks of work-related papers or writing.
After a grueling two-year national campaign and, before that, regular commutes between Washington and Chicago as a U.S. senator, he said the presidency has been "terrific" for family life, noting that the White House includes a "pretty nice home office" and that he is home for dinner most nights.
He even has been to a couple of his daughters' soccer games, Obama said, portraying an everyday home life for the first family.
"We've got some issues like every other family has that they have to work through," Obama said.
Despite the often-withering criticism he leveled against his predecessor during the presidential campaign, Obama said he has had conversations with President George W. Bush since the inauguration but offered no other details.
"I think that although I've only been president four months, I think a general policy of keeping confidence with your predecessors is important," Obama said.
Obama said he believed he would be able to succeed where President Clinton failed on healthcare reform because escalating costs had shifted the political climate.
"The biggest change politically . . . is that businesses now recognize that if we don't get a handle on this stuff that they are going to continue to be operating at a competitive disadvantage with other countries," he said. "And so they anxiously seek serious reform."
Asked about the financial crisis in California, Obama said he did not believe the federal government would provide a bailout, though he acknowledged the state faced "some very difficult choices."
