The race to sell health reform to Americans began today with the President heading to Iowa City to attend, what amounts to the kick off of the campaign season.  All the while, the Senate has been wrangling with the health reconciliation bill, which just passed this afternoon by a vote of 56-43, and then sent back to the House for those members to vote on the small changes made by the Senate Parliamentarian.  The House is expected to vote on the bill sometime this evening, finally putting to rest the health-care debate (for now), after the President signs it into law.

President Barack Obama seemed to have the easier lift today, when compared to Congressional members, but I think he deserves to feel a bit relaxed after such a long fight over health reform.  The crowd of 3,000 at the University of Iowa was really fired up even an hour before the President landed, but they cheered wildly when he broke the ice with a comment about how Iowa ruined in NCAA basketball bracket when they beat Kansas.

However, today's speech was about health-care and the historic bill which passed on Sunday.  Obama characterized the legislative victory as one for the people, going back to his populist roots, emphasizing their fight against extreme rhetoric and record amounts of special interest money spent.  He spoke plainly and assured crowd that now that the bill had passed, it will be judged for what it actually is, and not what competing interests want you to think.

The speech followed relatively the same formula as the other recent speeches on health-care, detailing what is in the bill and when it will come into effect.  Specifically, he focused on those measures which will start this year such as, tax credits for small businesses, no pre-existing conditions for children, no dropping coverage when you get sick, no limits or caps on coverage, Children can stay on parent's plan until 26, seniors get $250 for prescriptions in advance of closing the donut hole, and preventive care covered for free. 

The President was interrupted at one point by a student yelling about something they didn't like in the bill, and he responded by saying that it was ok to be dissatisfied with a portion of the bill, but to remember that the victory that they won was 32 million more people guaranteed health-care enshrined in law.  He even went so far as to say that it was one step on the road to universal coverage.  It was an interesting exchange and a fight that President Obama said he was ready to take on, remarking on the GOP's threat to run on a campaign of repeal.

All in all, a good speech and worth a watch.  We'll have it for you as soon as it can be uploaded.

Watch the speech below: