Democrats and progressives are clearly rattled by how quickly the right has come out of the gate in the much-anticipated August health care battle.
Zandar, keying off Josh Marshall, explains:
Josh Marshall considers the health care town hall ambushes by the teabagger crowds and asks: "Folks can whine on endlessly about outfits like Freedom Works putting these rackets together. But if the president's plan has any public support they should be able to get supporters to these events too, right? Not to pull the Black Shirt routine but to provide some public demonstration that there's real public support for making reform a reality. ... If there is. So that's the question. Where's the other team?"
If they're waiting until after the Senate recesses on Friday, then they're ceding an entire week to the goon squads here. They were ready to go as early as this weekend and will continue to attack for the next four weeks. It's a very good question and very indicative of the problem Obama has had in the last six weeks: for the centerpiece of his administration's policy initiatives, he's sure not acting like he wants this very much.The GOP, on the other hand, is treating this fight as what it is: an existential battle. They know that if robust health care reform passes, they are beyond toast. Democrats will run the show for a generation. They are pulling out all the stops on the attacks and the pressure. To use a crappy sports metaphor, they want the win more.
Team Obama has gotten hamstrung here in the last three days. Multiple Democrats have been jumped at appearances. The GOP telegraphed the plan well in advance. So far it's looking like the Dems don't have much of a "boots on the ground" response. I am hoping this changes and fast. The best organized grassroots political machine ever conceived rolled over the landscape last fall. Where is it now?
A major question (and source of angst) on the left is encapsulated in that last sentence, namely, where's the vaunted Obama operation and why can't it counter a ragtag group of so-called "teabaggers"? [For the record, as someone who protested the Iraq war and believes in citizen activism, I don't like using broad-brush pejorative terms for grassroots activists, even if I disagree with them politically. Two exceptions: astroturfers organized by big moneyed interests deserve all the disdain they get, and those who have a race-based anti-Obama agenda are despicable beyond words.]
Weeks ago, I cautioned that the White House was in perpetual campaign mode. Now we read that the Obama team will once again turn to the tried and true methods of the 2008 campaign.
Therein lies the problem. The August health care battle isn't the presidential campaign. Here are five reasons why:
1. The media and punditocracy have a different agenda. Back then, the favored narrative was David vs. Goliath, i.e. the unthinkable and exhilarating notion that Obama could vanquish three formidable foes: the indomitable Clinton operation, the resurgent McCain campaign, and the rightwing Swift-Boat machine. Today's narrative is also David vs. Goliath, but in reverse: can the downtrodden GOP, with the aid of insurance companies and assorted Obama detractors, deal him a gut-wrenching political blow? And can they convince enough rank and file Republicans and independents to work against their own best interests and sink the Obama agenda?
2. Obama's much-talked about online 'army' of 13 million people doesn't exist. At least not in the mobilized, battle-ready and efficient form we saw during the campaign. Between natural attrition rates and typical open (and conversion) rates, that 13 million is closer to a tenth the number who actually read the emails and far fewer who take concrete actions. The singular focus of a presidential race is absent in a multi-faceted legislative fight. Mobilizing an online 'army' on the scale of a presidential campaign is significantly more difficult in these circumstances, if not impossible.
3. Republicans and conservatives have far less to lose. When McCain-Palin were a few percentage points away from the White House, there was an incentive to be somewhat (and I emphasize 'somewhat') restrained, for fear of completely turning off the country. Now there's much more to gain politically by throwing caution to the wind and being total obstructionists. The dirty politics everyone expected during the campaign is showing up in full force now.
4. Inside baseball is less effective when you're on the inside. The media manipulation that helped win the White House, the masterful messaging, the leaks, the back-scratching, the hard-hitting conference calls with strategists and advisers while the candidate stayed above it all, the playing of one outlet and one reporter against the other, the smart turns of phrase, the snarky retorts, the outsider vs. insider kabuki, all these lose a good deal of potency when campaigning gives way to governing. Especially when bankers are running away with taxpayer money, polls are shifting and the public is hurting.
5. The netroots, excited and energized by the prospect of an Obama presidency, are disillusioned. The administration's Bush-affirming decisions on secrecy, civil liberties, torture, gay rights, etc. have alienated a good number of influential bloggers and progressive activists. These are the elite opinion-makers on the left, and their voices have been perennially marginalized (and their impact underestimated) by Democrats.
As Democrats fight for a signature issue, a serious strategic blunder has left them scrambling to catch up with their opponents. The White House should have laid out clear, unwavering objectives, a solid plan, rather than leave the health debate to meander through Congress. That vacuum has enabled the proponents of the status quo to marshal their forces.
Perhaps resorting to campaign tactics will turn the tide, I certainly hope so, but it bears acknowledging that the landscape has changed.
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Congressional member. My cousin is a Democrat as were all the people we sat with
and they are not supporting this plan. I think that calling all of these meetings attacks by the right
is just burying your head in the sand. There are many Democrats who are concerned with things they have heard about the plan.......or how is this for a concept they have actually found out by reading the bill. Many questions came from portions of policy that are in the bill.
There is a great worry over the cost of the plan and how it will be paid for. There is a general feeling that the Obama Administration is not telling the truth about things like rationing and how people who lose their insurance will lose their choice and be forced into the public option. (This is in the bill by the way.) Many of the seniors wanted to know, why if Medicare is already in such bad shape, Obama wants to take 500 billion out of it and what will happen to the people who are now in it
or fast approaching the time when they will be. I also attended the tea party that was held in my hometown and the people there were from both parties and independents.......I think ignoring this
fact is a big mistake for the Obama Administration.
And then there are those like me. Worked for 1 co. for over 27 yrs. Injured on the job not by my lack of care, but my body failed to respond to increased physical labor cause by short staffing, etc. My co. wouldn't take me back, why would they? I was top pay, top benefits, etc. I have had no health care for years since my choice is being treated and homeless, or at least having the dignity of having a roof over my head. I am 58, have health issues, and this country cares nothing about me. I was a cash cow and now I am expendable. US is a great place. The few who are really talented can make a killing here, and our laws have been geared to that. But the majority of us? Screwed.
Ask yourselves, how many supporters of the public option have been ejected from Senate hearings and jailed? 0 as of this date. On the other hand over 20 single payer activists have been jailed for having the audacity to demand that Congress give single payer equal consideration. So what plan has the HMOs shaking in their boots? What plan will include everyone and exclude NO ONE? SINGLE PAYER!
Single payer on the other hand is supported by the public, physicians, nurses over 540 labor organizations, yet no one wants to give it the opportunity to be heard that it deserves! How many people have been ejected from Senate hearings and thrown in jail that support the "public option"? As of today's date; 0. Over 20 single payer activists have been jailed since last May for the audacity to demand that Congress give serious to single payer as the option for REAL healthcare reform! So what is the REAL reform plan? What plan has the corporate profiteers shaking in their boots?
For those who say no, the Federal Government should retreat from every aspect of the health care business, from Medicare payments to states and people, hospitals as well as any aspect of social security that addresses medical needs. It truly is an all or nothing proposition. If you believe it is a government issue then it is likely best left for each state to decide how they desire to deal with the care of its people. What happens if you travel between or among states, its time for health insurance to be issued the same way that auto insurance is. I have no problem with those States that treat education like health care, some states do a great job others would rather brag how low their tax’s are.
If you are poor and cannot afford health insurance, apparently it sucks to be you and you need to yell at your State officials to have them give you a helping hand. I suspect in some states all you will receive is part of the hand.
Oh by the way, somehow the Federal Government has administered a Social Security System for over 60 years, and while not perfect certainly works, If you don't believe it does go ask the white haired crowd.
Babies - I hope you have lined up someting on the side, cause things will really get tight for you, once the Government starts pushing weed.
Many African countries suffer because they have far too many people than their nations can afford to maintain. Do you want America to become like Africa? If so, keep on supporting policies that maintain far too many people for far too long. The Bible gives us a guideline at 70 (three score and 10) years. That's long enough. Anything after that is gravy. With our present average lifespan far over this amount, it's no wonder we are in trouble. Both Liberals AND Conservatives refuse to face this question. We should continue to ask it-- How can we live BEYOND what the Bible wants and still remain a "nation under God"?????
The rich know that if the laboring class were given good wages and a quality life, then they would do more in life then make many babies to care for them in old age.
The rich are the ones destroying nature, the rich are the ones who are starving off the poor, the rich are the ones by wars unending trying to kill off the poor, and in days to come the rich will be the greatest enemy to society the world has ever known.
Surely if the laboring class were given good wages and a quality life, they would then do more in life then make many babies to care for them in old age.
Inhuman corporations are the ones destroying nature, corporations are the ones who are starving off the poor, corporations are the ones who by wars unending kill off the poor, and in days to come corporations will be the greatest enemy to society the world has ever known.
Page 22 of the HC Bill: Mandates that the Government will audit books of all employers that self insure!
Page 42 of HC Bill: The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC Benefits for you. You have no choice!
Page 59 HC Bill lines 21-24: Government will have direct access to your bank accounts for elective funds transfer.
BTW, Lou Dobbs claims to be the only new program that is examining the other nations health systems, but no one has told him about the PBS Frontline program that analyzed the systems of some five nations (UK, France, Germany, Japan and Tiwan), as well as the movie "Sicko", which dealt with UK, France, and Cuba.