Comparing Obama to Kennedy, Frank Rich writes:
Can anyone picture Obama exerting such take-no-prisoners leadership to challenge those who threaten our own economic recovery and stability at a time of deep recession and war? That we can’t is a powerful indicator of why what happened in Massachusetts will not stay in Massachusetts if this White House fails to reboot.
Reboot done. Obama said he would pivot, and the Supreme Court threw him a hot pitch at the right time to swing. We are nowhere near done: David Plouffe is arguing Democrats should pass the bill and Obama has put him in charge of the Democrats’ 2010 campaign. That’s a pretty strong message, and the principals involved at this stage of legislation may have found a way forward.
So much for health care being dead. In fact, don’t count out the public option yet, either.
But what kills me about Rich’s column is the way he first demands a change in course, and then admits there has been a course correction in the works at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since December. One in which the only names Rich can drop off his fingertips are the pieces Obama has already moved around the board: Volcker, Geithner, Summers.
The essential shortcoming of MSM columnists is that they are generally taken surprise by what has long been news — just not news loud enough to penetrate the circus.
That is the thing about this president that frustrates his supporters the most, really. Obama hasn’t been willing to play politics as usual in Washington, which is what he pledged to do; and politics as usual come in the hardball and back-stabbing varieties.
Interestingly enough, Obama’s “deal” with PhRMA seems to have lasted as long as the Senate cloture process. Corporatized health coverage is on the verge of being shackled to income limitations on health insurance plans: a mandate, subsidies, and new revenues would extend coverage to all and enforce competition through exchanges. Exactly which part of this is the sellout?
Before last year ended, Obama told 60 Minutes he was tired of playing nice with bankers. He had initiatives ready and unrolled them in the wake of the Massachusetts disaster. The Supreme Court couldn’t have offered him a better opportunity to draw a stark contrast between himself and opponents.
Consensus politics drives the left batty; it has driven Rich to distraction. But the process of legislation isn’t over, and Obama is using his bench very well. I don’t think he’s even winded by Massachusetts, actually — he made a gracious gesture by indicating the new Senator should be seated before there is a new health care vote in the Senate.
Why would he do that? Because no one can say the bill was passed in the dead of night, or outside of normal precedent. He is obeying the accepted rules because he has no power to change them; asking others to change them before legislation can begin is a terrific sign of weakness. This way is actually stronger, long-term.
Obama still won’t discuss Senate rules out loud. That’s because he cannot change the rules of Congress; and no Constitutional scholar would dare to try. The new way forward is to let the Senate vote on issues via reconciliation, then have the House vote on the Senate bill. he is using the rules he has.
Because really, what we’re talking about here isn’t even Obama’s problem to solve. Congress is now, and has always been, at the root of America’s difficulty in addressing health care reform issues. The problem now is two houses, each waiting for the other to make a first move.
Managing that is easy for a consensus-builder. What may yet emerge is health care done even better, and with even more powerful ingredients.
And he will have the political capital to do that because he is staking out the center of American politics with a progressive issue, thanks to the incredible timing and unfathomable overreach of the conservative Supreme Court.
All in all, I’d say 11-Dimensional Chess gets you a lot farther than screaming about single-payer.
