Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, kicked off his two week, swing state tour today in Raleigh, NC. In a speech about economics, Senator Obama made clear the differences between his health care platform and the failed Bush/McCain policies that cater to the "healthy and wealthy" and have left some 47 million Americans without health insurance.

Obama pledged to make it easier for every American to get good health care, do away with exemptions for pre-existing conditions, stop drug companies from price gouging, and then said something that was greeted with great enthusiasm by the crowd:

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"By the way, I'm going to be partnering up with Elizabeth Edwards, we're going to be figuring all this out."

Obama is smart to enlist Elizabeth Edwards, who backed Hillary Clinton's health care plan earlier in the primary season. I believe that together, they will come up with a health care plan with mass appeal that is so strong it will put the issue out of McCain's reach this fall.