I see from the Washington Post (I read it on the plane) that Obama moved the needle a whopping three points in terms of approval of his health-care “bill.” Now, obviously, the speech was intended for both an inside game and an outside game (though I’ve lost track where the conventional wisdom was last week on this). But the outside game — i.e. making the “plan” more popular — was an important part of the strategy. That’s why Axelrod & Co. took down the Big Gun: An address to a joint session of congress. That’s typically a once-in-a-presidency play, and they called it half way through his first year. A more presidential venue Obama may never have. And . . .he stayed within the margin of error. Mickey, natch, beat me to the punch:

WaPo reports that in the days after Obama’s speech, the Dem health care plan was opposed by a 48 to 46 margin–versus a 50-45 margin in mid-August. … From five points down to two points down. That’s all he got for playing the joint-session-prime-time-address card? Does that seem like enough to you? …
P.S.: “[S]eniors remain solidly opposed to health-care reform, and the number who think government involvement would do more harm than good continues to rise …

Anyway, Obama rang the mother of all cowbells for an hour and got next to nothing for it. At some point this White House is going to have to realize that “more Obama” isn’t the answer to every problem.

Update: No plan B yet. Just more plan A for as far as the eye can see. A reader tipped me to this:

If there’s one thing this White House doesn’t seem worried about, it is that Americans will get tired of seeing President Obama.
After a week of speeches and rallies, the appearance on “60 Minutes,” the speech on Wall Street today and a rally in Maryland later this week – Mr. Obama is looking to do what would be a presidential first: sitting down for interviews on at least three of the Sunday morning news shows.
White House officials said that while nothing is certain – schedules are still be worked out and all that – they are looking to land Mr. Obama to back-to-back appearances on “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos on ABC, “Meet the Press” on NBC, and “Face the Nation” on CBS. No word on Fox or CNN.
Should this happen, Mr. Obama will be the first sitting president to blanket the Sunday morning programs, albeit potentially one limited to just the major broadcast networks.

This is after he’s the first guest on Leno’s new show as well.

Update II: I’m getting on a plane, but a reader alerts me the bounce was better in Rasmussen. My guess is it’s still short-lived.