WASHINGTON (CNN) - No-drama Obama morphed into an emotional, tough, determined leader in his joint address to Congress Wednesday night, making it clear that "the moment" is demanding health reform. Not just as a matter of care, but as a matter of national character.
Fearing the future, President Obama told us, is "not what the moment calls for."
The high moment, however, had already been disrupted by a low one: an out-of-order, childish, dumb taunt from GOP Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, who shouted, "You lie," when Obama said that illegal immigrants would not be covered under his health care measure. The errant congressman later apologized, of course, but his infamous heckling would not be forgotten.
The angry outburst reminded us that this defining domestic debate has, at times, descended into a churlish display of acrimony. Hard to escape, it seems. But after Obama's speech, maybe a tad easier to ignore.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Two links (Miller's ActBlue listing and fundraising page) allowing people to donate to Rep. Congressman Joe Wilson's opponent Rob Miller went viral last night on e-mail, Twitter and Facebook, raising approximately $100,000, according to the liberal group pushing for the contributions.
The links came from online fundraising site ActBlue, and the first donation via the links came in at 9:30 p.m. ET last night. ActBlue's two links were clicked on over 3,000 times. The overwhelming majority of those clicks came in from people e-mailing the links, followed by a people sharing the link on Twitter. A smaller number of donors put the link on Facebook.
ActBlue Deputy Communications Director Adrian Arroyo told CNN that the donations have come in from over 5,000 individuals.
Complaints that those in the United States illegally would get benefits under the health-care bill now before the House of Representatives have been a staple of the raucous public meetings some members of Congress have been hosting during their August break. At least two people raised the issue at a forum held by Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, on August 12, and Cardin's insistence that "Illegal aliens will not be in this bill - period - the end" was met with a round of jeers.
(CNN) - Andrew Card, the former chief of staff to President Bush, said Wednesday he'll likely run for the vacant Massachusetts Senate seat that was held by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy for more than four decades.
Card, a Massachusetts native who served four terms as a state representative in the late 1970s and early 1980s, told reporters the chances of him running for the seat are "much better than 50 percent," according to the Boston Globe.
The comments came at a Republican state committee meeting Wednesday evening, during which Card said he had "a phenomenal desire" to run, but expressed concern his wife - a Methodist minister in Virginia - might have to leave her job as a result.
"I am not going to ask my wife to leave her church," he said.
(CNN) – South Carolina Republican Party Chairwoman Karen Floyd is expected to seek a party resolution calling for Mark Sanford's resignation, a source familiar with plans for the call told CNN.
Floyd is expected to make the request on on a conference call Thursday afternoon with members of the state GOP executive committee. The call is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
The South Carolina Republican Party convened a similar conference call in July, which resulted in a vote to censure Sanford for "repeated failures to act in accordance" with the party's core principles and beliefs - but the party did not ask for Sanford to step down. At the time, Floyd issued a statement saying, "Now is the time for healing for our great state."
Thursday's conference call comes one day after 61 Republicans in the South Carolina House of Representatives wrote to Sanford demanding his resignation. But the governor has repeatedly rejected the onslaught of calls for him to resign, instead vowing to stay in office to fight for his fiscally conservative beliefs.
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world.
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CNN: Obama calls for Congress to face health care challenge
President Obama on Wednesday made a passionate call for Congress to fix the nation's ailing health care system in the same spirit that created Social Security and Medicare in difficult times.
CNN: Rep. Wilson shouts to Obama during speech: 'You lie'
A Republican House member shouted "You lie" during President Obama's health care speech to Congress on Wednesday, and members of both parties condemned the heckling.
CNN: Wilson calls White House to apologize
CNN's Deirdre Walsh reports that Republican Rep. Joe Wilson called the White House Wednesday night to apologize for his outburst during President Obama's speech, and spoke with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
CNN: GOP's Boustany urges bipartisan health care plan
U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany urged Congress to pass a health-care plan by "working together in a bipartisan way" in remarks delivered after President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.
CNN: Obama wins with speech-watchers, poll says
Two out of three Americans who watched President Obama's health care reform speech Wednesday night favor his health care plans, a 14-point gain among speech-watchers, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. national poll.
First on the Ticker: S.C. GOP chair to seek Sanford's resignation
South Carolina Republican Party Chairwoman Karen Floyd is expected to seek a party resolution calling for Mark Sanford's resignation, a source familiar with plans for the call told CNN.
CNN: Palin gets tough on Democrats' health care proposals
For the second time since resigning the Alaska governorship more than a month ago, Sarah Palin is adding her voice to the fiery debate over health care.
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