Talk shows to preview Obama addresses

Hopes for healthcare reform and fears of swine flu will dominate the Sunday shows this weekend.

Specifically, lawmakers and pundits will preview President Barack Obama’s two major speeches scheduled for next week: a healthcare address to a joint session of Congress, and a controversial address to schoolchildren nationwide.

{mosads}Two White House aides will likely preview the president’s speeches during their respective interviews: David Axelrod on “Meet the Press,” and Robert Gibbs on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will make an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” to defend the president’s decision to address the nation’s schoolchildren. Duncan will also discuss how parents and schools can contain the swine flu outbreak as the school year kicks off.

A panel of influential healthcare wonks will follow Gibbs on ABC. Former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.), Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) will discuss the prospects for healthcare reform. Daschle is an informal White House adviser and was Obama’s top choice to be Health and Human Services Secretary.

On “Fox News Sunday,” Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) will discuss healthcare reform with a trio of unelected but infuential Washington hands: former DNC chairman Howard Dean, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, and former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta.

Finally, CNN will tape “State of the Union” live from the Minnesota State Fair, where they’ll sit down with Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), a potential 2008 GOP presidential candidate. Pawlenty has questioned Obama’s motive in scheduling a daytime address to schools.

While in Minnesota, CNN’s John King will also speak with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).