Mark Halperin’s Three Things

Mark Halperin's three things to watch for in politics for Thursday, July 23.

1. Watch President Obama out on the road in Cleveland continuing to sell his health care message. He heads there today for a tour of the Cleveland Clinic and an afternoon town hall at a high school just outside the city. Watch to see if he recalibrates anything he said last night based on the reviews of his presser and his adviser’s reactions to what he said.

2. Watch for action from the Senate Finance Committee on its health care bill. A group of the committee’s members are still trying to come together for some kind of bipartisan legislation. They’ve faced some setbacks this week — Republican Orrin Hatch walked out of the negotiations after realizing he wasn’t willing to compromise as much as was required of him -- and have been largely secretive about their progress. Watch to see if there’s any action there because it’s key to making progress before the August recess in the House and the Senate.

3. Watch for continuing reactions to last night’s primetime presser. There won’t be any significant new polling out, but watch to see what the cable chatter and talk shows have to say about Obama’s performance last night and what it means for getting average Americans on board his plan.