President Obama will deliver a much anticipated address on healthcare reform tonight. There are lots of eyes and ears on this event. A reporter called me today to see if I would watch the address with her so that she could write about my reaction (I declined due to a scheduling conflict). I’m sure a great variety of secondary reactions and opinions will surface soon after his speech.

So here are seven things to watch for during Obama’s address tonight: (POLITICO)

1. Can he keep it simple? Can the President spark enough interest to successfully compete with the season premiere of “So You Think You Can Dance” on FOX?
2. Who is his bad guy? Every good story needs a villain.
3. Where’s that old campaign magic? Can Obama connect with the American people the way he did during the campaign?
4. Does he win the spin? To help Obama’s message go viral, White House Communications Director Anita Dunn will be on whitehouse.gov for a live video chat and will respond to questions coming from Facebook and Twitter
5. Public option or no public option? That is the question.
6. What’s the bite of the night? Expect to hear a lot of sound bites.
7. Can he get Republicans to cheer? It’s important for Republicans to show that they favor reform without endorsing Obama’s controversial ideas.

There are indications that President Obama will mention malpractice reform in his speech. I really hope so, because as you can see here it’s a critical issue that’s been largely left out of the debate.

Filed under: Health Policy