Monday Memo: Foreign affairs shares spotlight with health reform

Egyptain President Hosni Mubarak will visit the White House on Tuesday.

(CNN) - Health care remains, without a doubt, President Obama's top priority, though the week ahead will bring more of a public focus on international and security issues.

One key dynamic to keep an eye on is the reaction among leading House Democrats to the latest indication the White House is prepared to accept a health care bill that lacks a robust "public" or government insurance option.

"Not the essential element," is how Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius described the public option to us on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.. "Very difficult," is how veteran House Democrat Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas told us when asked how hard of a sell a health care bill absent a robust public option would be in among House Democrats.

This might be a good time for Obama and former President Clinton to swap notes about 1993-94.

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