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This is an important week for President Obama. Indeed, one leading commentator says it will shape the next three years of American politics.

Up until now, despite all the talk of "Obamacare" there was no Plan Obama, just a presidential wish list.

That was perhaps a mistake. All generals fight the last war and many felt Bill Clinton's healthcare reform failed because it was written in the White House and rather imperiously handed down to the politicians on the Hill.

President Obama allowed the Senate and the House a free hand and got in return two bills, a lot of spending on , town hall meetings, the Tea Party, and a muddled debate that has left the American public confused and worried.

Oh, and no bill. The months of wrangling meant that the election of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts last month deprived the Democrats of the 60 votes needed to force the plan through the Senate.

Now the White House has published its own plan. There's no public option. There's less pork. The really new measure is a plan to allow the government to curb large raises in charges by insurance companies. That may be big government. It comes just as one big insurer announced plans to increase premiums by 39%.

All this is ahead of a televised presidential meeting with Democratic and Republican politicians on Thursday.

Republicans who do not smell a trap must be rather naive. There's no doubt the public sees bipartisanship as a higher good, but for many politicians it's a game of chicken.

President Obama is tempting his opponents to come up with their own plan or look churlish by rejecting his offer and any reform. Conservative commentators suggest they should go along but not say much, hoping the public back their broad argument against the plan.

But Mr Obama doesn't need many Republican defectors: having all the Democrats plus one Republican on his side would do the trick. The president badly needs something that either looks like a victory or, and perhaps this could be more important in an election year, something that allows him to paint the Republicans as the bad guys.

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