Will the Public Option Cover Barack Obama's Democrat's Disease?

Leadership is only part vision. The other part is the ability to communicate that vision. President Obama is failing to lead America into a new era of health care reform not for lack of vision, but because he's not talking about it properly. Worse, he's starting to sound like "just another Democrat."

Too many Democratic politicians suffer from an under-diagnosed and often incurable affliction -- Democrats Disease; that insatiable need to always want to "correct the facts" and "set the record straight." Democrats often seem more concerned with being technically right than advancing their cause. Though it is important to have all your t's crossed and i's dotted, the facts never inspire people to rally for a cause ... which is exactly what the President needs America to do.

What inspires people to raise their hands to volunteer to make change happen is the feeling of being a part of something larger than any individual. A noble cause. What's more, that noble cause must be stated in terms that people can relate to -- i.e. themselves. Ronald Reagan, a great communicator, understood this better than most. He was the first president to invite a "hero" to sit in the balcony during the State of the Union address to personify the benefits of a policy -- a tradition that has continued in every single State of the Union since.

In his recent speech to a joint session of Congress, Obama started to make his case for national health care reform by laying out some numbers. "We are the only democracy," he implored, "the only advanced democracy on Earth -- the only wealthy nation -- that allows such hardship for millions of its people. There are now more than 30 million American citizens who cannot get coverage. In just a two-year period, one in every three Americans goes without health care coverage at some point. And every day, 14,000 Americans lose their coverage. In other words, it can happen to anyone."

Though I appreciate that he is trying to tell Americans that we need to do this because it could happen to you, unfortunately, all those big numbers get in the way of the message. What most people actually heard was, "you have to be responsible for giving insurance to 30 million people." No wonder there is so much animosity to such an idea -- it sounds big, expensive and nearly impossible.

More important than the number of people without insurance or what the statistics might prove, is the answer to the question why? Why should I bother? Charity and goodwill on a massive scale are not good enough reasons to take the risky journey into the unknown. This cause can only be championed with relevant, human language, not statistical reasons to act.
Obama defended the fuzzy (and dare I say socialist sounding) language of a "public option" by saying that fewer than 5% of people would need it. If that is the case, then he should have used language that communicated why we need a public option in the first place. Call it, "assistance for extreme cases," for example. Without any statistics, this revised language clearly communicates that such a system would not be a financial burden on the general population. Facts and stats should only ever be used to reinforce a message, not define it.

The president has a clear vision of what American could look like if his plans are enacted. The irony is that he has had to spend too much time to set the facts straight because he wasted so much time making a rational case for "national health care reform," instead of rallying the country to look forwards and find a way "to provide a doctor for every child." Clear, simple language that explains why this matters to America.

Simon Sinek is the author of Start With Why, How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action, due on shelves October 29th. For more, visit simonsinek.com.

Follow Simon Sinek on Twitter: www.twitter.com/simonsinek

Comments

[argyle]

Only your explanation of it makes it sound "big, expensive and nearly impossible­."

His makes it sound like a necessary part of an overall reform package that will modernize care, extend insurance to the uninsured while improving quality of coverage, and provide for a market force to counter balance the rising cost of health care without price controls.

[Manx]

Obama has alluded to but not emphasized the moral imperative to insure all Americans. Instead of standing firm and demanding a publc option, he has vacillated and hemmed and hawed. One day he supports it, the next day, maybe, and then probably not. He talks more about cutting back on Medicare than promoting health-care reform, which lead many elders to believe that the push for health care reform is just a guise to cut back on Medicare. It doesn't matter that it isn't true. Perception is everything in politics. Obama hasn't shown real leadership. Between Obama and Rahm Emanuel, they have created a political disaster.

[tybris]

I dont know if i agree with this article. Esentially you seem to be saying that Democrats should start talking more like republicans. If we have two political groups inciting fear and hatred instead of just the republicans we will go backwards as a society. Its the Democrats ability to look at the facts that makes them democrats and not lunatics like the the right wing has become.

[hazmaq]

I think he's saying that you can't get through to a bunch of 1st graders if you talk to them as adults . That's why Fox needs T & A 24/7. And why we have so much T & A and assorted idiots on television selling you crap you wouldn''t likely buy were you given the straight story, or, would buy were you not blindsided by huge piles of silicon.

[quietfortoolong2]

I don't think the author is advocating a fear based agenda. Rather, I think he is saying to lead with the hook, essentially, then provide facts as they are requested (if they are ever requested). It's all about framing, and, sadly, most of the populace has decided that 'learnin' is a waste of time, and so are facts. Just give it to them straight, at gut level, so they can go about their business. Democrats have not learned how to do this yet because mature adults know that the devil is in the details. When republicans can take simplistic soundbites, package it in falsehoods, and put the other side on the defensive, no amount of facts is going to defeat that. In order for the dems to re-take control of the health care debate and really start to move public opinion numbers, sadly, we have to dumb down the ideas for general public consumption.

In shorter terms, the majority of the public is too stupid to understand complex social and moral issues, but they have to be involved anyway, so dumb it down for them if you want their support.

[EbonBear]

I think what he's saying is that Democrats need to grow a spine and start fighting back against the tirade of lies and distortions.

[MJ900]

Being able to speak to people using words that they understand is so important.
My friends have been using the below with very good results, in fact it stops them
in their tracks:

"Christ healed the sick and NEVER asked for a dime.
When it comes to the sick, we are the last Western nation
not to follow in the footsteps of Christ."

This hits them in the gut, end of argument.

[MJ900]

I should have mentioned, we live in central Pa,
You know, where people cling to their guns and religion..­..

Learn to speak on their level. It doesn't have to use fear, but
use the facts that they understand.
It was amazing to watch one woman just shut up, the issue evaporated
when she was confronted with this.

[EbonBear]

Ooooh, that's a good one. Even non-Christians tend to respect Jesus. I'm going to steal that.

[PlaceboStudman]

Who the ----- cares if the public option covers Obama's or anyone else's disease? Why the ----- aren't we putting 1.000 times more money into curing whatever disease Obama, or anyone else might have, so that we don't need insurance to begin with??

THIS is the flaw with the insurance argument. We're arguing over the cost of something, without realizing that the product we're arguing the cost of is broken beyond repair. We MUST, MUST, MUST be concerned with the quality of our care, or the cost won't matter one damn bit, because we'll all be dead.

I'm sick and tired, fed up and disgusted of people who would rather die rich in 6 months than live 20 years on the street and homeless shelters

And that is the ONLY thing that will be influenced by insurance reform.