BRISTOL, Va. – Decrying “petty partisanship in Washington,” Sen. Barack Obama kicked off his national campaign here Thursday by promising every American affordable health care “by the end of my first term as president.”
The Democratic senator from Illinois and his party’s presumptive nominee following a bruising 16-month campaign against Hillary Clinton said he would pay for his health care program through disease prevention and a paperless system.
“We need a health care system instead of a disease-care system,” said Obama, 46, during a town-hall-style rally that drew 2,500 supporters to Virginia High School.
Obama was the first major party candidate to visit Southwest Virginia since John F. Kennedy in 1960, noted U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va.
Amid chants of “Yes we can!” Obama laid out his health care plan in detail and compared presumptive Republican nominee John McCain’s as “Bush-lite.”
“I’ll allow the drug companies a seat at the table, but they just won’t be able to buy every chair,” said Obama, who promised not to take any campaign cash from registered lobbyists or special-interest political action committees. He added that the Democratic National Committee would be held to the same standard.
Insured Americans would keep their health insurance but pay $2,500 in fewer premiums each year, he vowed. The 47 million uninsured Americans would gain access to affordable health care and be encouraged to use preventive care instead of emergency rooms. Pre-existing conditions would be covered, he said.
“We’ll have to make choices. Liposuction will probably not be covered, guys. You can still have it, but you’ll have to cover that yourself,” Obama joked.
Catering to his Appalachian audience, Obama promised to invest in clean-coal technology, raise fuel-mileage standards and explore energy alternatives to get the United States off $500 billion in annual oil experts from anti-American countries.
Taking a jab at the Bush White House, Obama said anyone who serves in his administration must have integrity, competence and independence – the confidence “to tell me when I’m wrong.”
“We’ll have no more heads of the Arabian horse association in charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Obama said.
Virginia Republicans later today were scheduled to discuss Obama’s stop in Bristol and later tonight in Northern Virginia.
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