Category: 
by Obama Pundit
The way things are going, Obama is on his way to a major defeat on health care. However, it is not yet a fait accompli.
How can he turn things around?
I think the smartest thing he can do right now is to pivot into a populist position. He has been spending much of the time talking about cost and deficits and this is not capturing anyone’s imagination right now.
So, if I’m Obama, the FIRST thing I do is make one thing very loud and clear with the following statement:
I am so confident in the effectiveness of this bill, I pledge to you that every member of the government–Congress, the Supreme Court and the Federal Bureaucracy, plus myself and my family–will be covered under this health care plan.
Obama has been reticent when asked to make this pledge and, of course, Congress has exempted itself from the bill as well. This exemption will end up being a major issue if it ever comes to a vote and could end up killing the bill all by itself.
However, if Obama gets on the right side of the issue now, he will show he is personally invested in the fight and this will pay dividends politically. It might piss off Congress, but it could also pressure them into action. Maybe a little triangulation is needed in this case.
To me, this is a no-brainer and a great way to get back to his populist roots. Will he do it?
Comments
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 10:12 pm and is filed under Health Care, Obama Pundit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
“will be covered EXCLUSIVELY under this health care plan.” That is, no additional coverage from spouses and no personal fortunes used to pay for medical treatments that aren’t otherwise covered.
Members of Congress who vote against the bill will be furious, of course, when they find out their health care dramatically reduced. I’m not sure Obama could get bipartisan support on anything after that.