Most Americans are approving of what they see regarding Obama’s transition to the White House. Both sides of the political aisle have heaped accolades on his cabinet picks and also the way in which he’s approaching the change of the guard. Some reports however, show that not everyone is so comfortable and assured with his potential ability to enact broad based health care reform.

The Los Angeles Times reports that only 4 in 10 Americans believe Obama can provide all Americans with health care. What does that mean? Why are we not confident of him in this regard?

As has been said before, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Yes, considering that the economy is taking up most everybody’s attention these days, it seems logical that health care reform will fall to a lower rung on the ladder of importance.

When Obama recently held a press conference announcing former Senator Tom Daschle as his new Health and Human Services Secretary, he stated, “(Health care reform) has to be intimately woven into our overall economic recovery plan. It’s not something that we can sort of put off because we’re in an emergency. This is part of the emergency.”

Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful effort back in the early 1990′s to develop a sellable health care plan still leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many. That may be a lingering reason why Americans are reluctant to believe this can get done. But times have changed in the last 15 years and these days even the health insurance industry agrees that the existing health care system is broken and needs a drastic makeover. That fact in itself may be the catalyst Obama needs to succeed in this endeavor.