President Obama took aim last night at the laissez faire attitude building among lawmakers over health-care reform.

In a press conference designed to make his case for change, Obama appealed directly to the American public.

It's usually an excellent strategy for this president; last night his words made perfect sense - honest, deliberate, and thoughtful.

At times, he sounded professorial and pondering. And at others, he was brutally frank.

But in the end, he didn't close the deal.

To those members of Congress, senators, and the media pundit class asking what's the rush, he exposed the duplicitous nature of the question, and of the people who ask it.

His sense of urgency isn't about him, he said. He has a doctor on call 24/7.

But for the thousands of Americans who are losing their insurance every day, he said, the health-care crisis is real.

Obama's question: If you knew about a plan that guarantees health-care costs would double in the next 10 years, result in more Americans losing coverage, and would add to the federal deficit, is it the one you would chose?

Of course, the answer is no.

But according to polls, many Americans are still skeptical.

Obama can't seem to make the connection between our weakening economy and rising health-care costs. He didn't seem to make the most obvious point: if nothing happens on health care, the deficit still grows.

Some are calling health care the defining issue for this president.

And rather than helping troubled Americans, some of Obama's political opponents smell blood.

Republican Senator Jim DeMint, South Carolina, is calling health care Obama's Waterloo. Defeating health-care reform can defeat this president, he says.

But defeating this president on this issue may defeat the country.