U.S. President Barack Obama is continuing his media barrage, in an attempt to bolster support for health-care reforms during a key week on Capitol Hill.
After touring a college and delivering a speech in Troy, N.Y., Obama will make an appearance on "The Late Show With David Letterman" in New York City. CBS has said it will be the first time a sitting U.S. president has appeared on the program, while it will mark the president's 125th interview since taking office.
At Hudson Valley Community College, Obama is expected to talk about his administration's strategy for innovation. The White House has said he will focus on ideas as a source of job creation, and the need to invest in education and research.
Letterman's show will present the president with another opportunity to reassure Americans about the virtues of proposed health-care reforms. The televised appearance comes a day after five major U.S. networks, from CNN to NBC, hosted Obama on separate current affairs programs.
Interviews touched on topics ranging from economic recovery to the war in Afghanistan. But it was Obama's message on health care that garnered the most attention. He assured viewers that extending insurance to some 49 million uninsured Americans would not lead to a tax increase for the middle class.
"I can still keep that promise because as I've said, about two-thirds of what we've proposed would be from money that's already in the health-care system but just being spent badly," Obama told CBS's Face the Nation.
"Right now everybody in America, just about, has to get auto insurance," he said on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
"Nobody considers that a tax increase."
Obama's media offensive comes as members of the Senate Finance Committee prepare to vote on a health-care bill on Tuesday, which was proposed by committee chairman, Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.
Baucus has proposed a 10-year, $856 billion plan that authorizes health insurance for all Americans and requires those who decline coverage to face financial penalties.
But Obama's unprecedented media campaign has sparked criticism that the president is in danger of becoming overexposed in the eyes of Americans.
"He's been on everything but the Food Channel," quipped U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Stephen Farnsworth, author of "Spinner in Chief" and a professor of communication at George Mason University, says the U.S. public wants to hear from its leader as the country struggles to wage two wars abroad and kickstart a struggling economy at home.
"It seems to me Obama is still some distance from that problem," he told CTV's Canada AM on Monday. "When you've got this volume of trouble, I think that there's a great willingness to hear from the president."
Farnsworth said Obama faces an uphill climb to successfully reframe the health-care debate. The mostly negative coverage it received over the summer months, often focusing on angry town meetings, has contributed to popular skepticism about changing the current system.
That may dim the chances of passing reforms, although Obama has pledged to do so during his first year in the White House.
With files from the Associated Press
