Finally heeding my advice*, President Obama is planning to get more explicit about what he wants out of health care reform during an address to Congress and the nation Wednesday night.

While much of the country may think, “Seriously? Again with the primetime?” the president could do himself some real good if he uses the forum to lay out a clear and easy to understand architecture of health reform.

Lately liberal commentators and other news analysts have come to the conclusion that the president’s vagueness on health care has devastated the cause. The White House won’t say that the president is going to serve up a fully fleshed out plan next week, but he should. The argument against an actual “Obama Plan” is that it gives the opposition something to rally around. Well that bird has sailed.

President Obama needs to be clear and direct about what he wants so that his supporters have something they can rally around.

Early word is that the president won’t make a public option a centerpiece of his rearticulated agenda. Good news if true, but it won’t make his base happy. He’ll have to put something in there that appeases people on the left who don’t think any good can come from for-profit medicine, and those on the right who don’t want to see a quasi-government insurance entity used to gain a toehold on socialized medicine.

This is a risky path in the sense that President Obama is putting his ability to lead to the test. But if his active intervention now leads to a health reform bill that is even in the ballpark of what he wants, his party and the media will be ready to give him credit — probably even more than he’s due.

Now it all hinges on the details.

* joke