Give Barack Obama some credit. Rather than simply barricade himself inside the mansions of a pair of elite lawyers to gladhand with deep-pocketed Democratic donors, as was the initial plan for his trip to Dallas this week, and rather than holing himself in some White House bunker and pray that the "tech surge" will fix Healthcare.gov, the president will poke his head above ground to praise the folks on the ground working tirelessly to make the full rollout of Obamacare something other than an unmitigated disaster.
So Temple Emanu-El Rabbi David Stern announced in an email to congregants on Sunday evening. Obama, he said, will visit the North Dallas temple on Sunday afternoon "to highlight the important work done by Dallas Area Interfaith and faith-based organizations on health insurance education and enrollment."
Three weeks ago, Stern notes, Emanu-El played host to a kickoff event attended by 300 volunteers working to help Dallas County's mass of uninsured families and individuals obtain health coverage.
"[T]he foundation for this event has been the vital work we have tirelessly done in social justice over many years," Stern writes. "With our Dallas Area Interfaith partners, Temple members have advocated for Medicaid expansion and created the Durable Medical Exchange of Dallas, along with our most recent efforts to educate citizens for health care under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. More than that hosting a sitting president for the first time is a culmination of Temple's distinguished legacy as a leader in social justice in Dallas."
As The Dallas Morning News' Todd Gilman notes, the event also benefits the president, giving his Dallas fundraising jaunt the imprimatur of official business, meaning taxpayers, and not Democratic donors, will get to foot the bill.
