CNN's clock is slowly winding down, which means the president will be ushered to Capitol Hill soon. The area is mostly shut down. Snipers are on roof tops. Police K-9's are sniffing for trouble. And T.V. reporters are applying fresh globs of makeup.
 
Most lawmakers will attend the speech, and few expect to hear anything new. In fact, most know that they won't. The White House has already released excerpts of the president's speech. News flash: there isn't much news. He supports a public option and he says the plan will increase choice for taxpayers (contrary to claims from the right).
  
His attempt is to increase support for health reform, but it will be shocking if any congressional minds get changed this evening. The House and Senate minority leaders held a press conference today where they decried the proposed plan. And even now as we sit here and make last minute calls to press secretaries trying to line up post-speech interviews, our inboxes are slowly filling up with "embargoed" post-speech statements.
 
It's kind of like a glimpse into the future: after the speech Republicans are still upset with the cost and don't want the government "running" their health care. Most Democrats are happy with the speech: their leader has taken the pressure off of them and laid down "his" requirements (many of which are already included in Democrat's bills on Capitol Hill).
 
So there we are. Back to where we started.
  
Follow Matt Laslo’s blog and coverage of Congress at http://twitter.com/MattLaslo
 
If you have a comment or suggestion, please e-mail Matt at mlaslo@cncnews.org.