In a pre-Super Bowl announcement, President Obama threw something of a Hail Mary pass of his own, promising to convene a bipartisan meeting on health care reform.

"What I want to do is to ask [Republican congresspeople] to put their ideas on the table," the president told Katie Couric of CBS News Sunday afternoon during a high-profile interview. The meeting is scheduled for February 25, and will be televised according to several reports.

The president indicated he wants to establish points of agreement on reform that can go forward.

Judging from his recent performance at a GOP House conference last month in Baltimore, Obama won't entertain ideas based on budget numbers that the administration can't support. Meanwhile, detractors continue to urge a wholesale re-do of reform starting from square one, a stall tactic that would effectively end debate on the issue. This should make for an interesting, if not productive event.

Stay tuned.

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