WASHINGTON (The New York Times News Service) -- Despite the blizzard gripping Washington, Democrats, Republicans and advocacy groups began intense maneuvering Tuesday in advance of the televised health care summit that President Obama has set for Feb. 25 in an attempt to bring new life to what had been his top domestic priority.

Obama made a surprise appearance in the White House press room and compared his hopes for the summit with the give-and-take of marriage.

He said he is willing to consider medical malpractice reform, a key GOP demand. But bipartisanship, he added, doesn't mean Democrats abandon everything they believe in.

"Clearly that's not how it works in my marriage with Michelle," Obama said.

He said the Congressional Budget Office should be available to evaluate various plans, adding that he does not want the talks to devolve into political theater. "I want a substantive discussion," Obama said.

The summit follows Obama's televised sparring with House Republicans at their retreat in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago.

Many Democrats believe Obama succeeded for the first time in months in making his case to the public.

It also serves as an acknowledgement that last month's GOP upset in a Massachusetts Senate race terminated Democratic hopes to enact health care legislation on a party-line vote.

On Monday, House GOP leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, sent the White House a list of demands. They include that Democrats ditch their existing legislation and "start over," and a promise not to "jam" any legislation through the Senate using a process to pass it with a simple majority, thus avoiding a filibuster. Republican leaders said they had not made any decisions yet on whether they would even attend.

But Rep. Darrel Issa, R-Calif., said he will go.

"Should you ever turn down an invitation to the White House where you're promised that an exchange of ideas will occur?" Issa said. "I can't imagine why anyone would turn that down."

He sees no political risk in continuing to slam the Democratic legislation as a bad bill. "It was a bad bill in August and it's still a bad bill," he said. "But should we engage with the man who was elected president, whose watch this is on, to try to get a good piece of legislation? The answer is yes."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she welcomed the forum and would restart talks to resolve differences between the House and Senate bills that had been going on night and day until the eve of the Massachusetts election.

Democrats believe they must present a unified front going into the summit. They also are calling for an end to party bickering that consumed most of last year and did as much to sow public discontent as Republican opposition.

Pelosi even pointed to the bipartisan work she conducted with her political nemesis, former President George W. Bush, on the bank and auto bailouts in 2008.

Obama's call for televised hearings is an acknowledgement that his violation of his campaign pledge to hold health care negotiations under the glare of C-SPAN cameras was a mistake.

Democrats suffered a public backlash against the backroom deals they made to win Senate passage of their legislation.

The summit holds risks for both sides.

A solid majority of the public now opposes the Democratic legislation. Nonetheless, a new Washington Post/ABC News poll found that most people want to see bipartisan progress on health care.

Nearly 6 in 10 said Republicans aren't doing enough to find a compromise; the independents that both parties are courting in November blame Republicans more than the White House for the lack of progress.

Out-of-control costs are also driving the desire for action. The government's share of the nation's health care tab topped 50 percent this year for the first time, in part because private insurance has become too expensive for many businesses and individuals. Costs are projected to grow 6.2 percent next year and are devouring wages.

Analysts remain highly skeptical that anything will come out of the summit, but point to the significant ground covered during months of bipartisan talks in the Senate Finance Committee last year.

Ralph Neas, chief executive of the National Coalition on Health Care, a collection of labor, patient and health industry groups, called the summit a "politically adroit" move by Obama and said more such leadership is needed by the White House to force Congress to reach a consensus.

"This is a moment for historic presidential leadership and intervention in the style of FDR and LBJ," Neas said. "The president can't be just a facilitator, he's got to be negotiating with brass knuckles, and say this is the way it's going to be done, this is what has to pass, this is my bottom line, and give Republicans another opportunity."

As politically painful as reining in costs may be, lower costs would give the public a reason to support reform, he said. As it is, many who have insurance now see no benefit to themselves from expanding coverage to the uninsured.

Lower costs for private insurance would "help the president make the American public feel more comfortable," Neas said. "The lesson of Massachusetts and the polling shows that most Americans don't think there's anything in it for them."

Experts warn both parties not to attempt to cherry pick popular proposals -- such as banning denials of coverage based on pre-existing conditions -- because they could make the health care system even worse by shifting more costs to those who already have insurance.

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