You listen to the Health Care Reform debates and a lot of the logic would be comical if it wasn’t such a serious topic.
One example is this proposed theory that the Democrats are backed into a corner regardless of how they vote. If they vote “no” on the current legislation, then they are screwed. If they vote “yes” they are screwed, but not as bad.
FACT: Congressional approval is at nearly record lows, 18%.
FACT: The American people, whom they represent, are against this bill.
FACT: Even if this bill passes, it’s far from over with. Numerous lawsuits and Constituional challenges await it.
FACT: The “far left” base that is for health care reform, at any cost, can not get the Democrats reelected this fall and 2012.
FACT: The whole debate on this plays hugely to the Republican’s advantage. The more it remains on the news, the more the Republican’s benefit. If passed, long term it plays even more to their advantage. You want to get this off the news and fast, period.
FACT: Even if it’s passed today, the voters are not going to forget about it by November. That strategy is oblivious to reality. The corrupt process and details will only continue to leak out over the coming months and will only increase the anger of more and more voters. Then numerous lawsuits and legal challenges to the legislation will go on for years. It will be a scar on the Democrats (election wise) that not only will refuse to go away, it will just get uglier over time.
FACT: If this legislation is signed into law and it hurts jobs and the economy in the slightest demonstrable way….which it will in it’s present form. The Democratic Party will be little short of destroyed, 1994 will look like a pleasant dream. From a strategy standpoint, the Republican leadership couldn’t write this script any more to their favor if they tried.
IMHO there’s a third option for the Democrats that could save their bacon. They could stop and say: “Hey we hear you America. We’re going to stop on this legislation. We’re going to focus on jobs and the economy non-stop till a clear recovery is in place. We will look at this HCR legislation later, break out the parts of the legislation that both sides can agree upon, and work on those reforms. But first and foremost we’re going to focus on getting jobs back. We’re not happy that the “good news” is that we only lost a few thousands of jobs this week/month. We will not rest till the “good news” is that we’re adding jobs at the rate of 5-6 digits each month.”
If they do the above, they quickly put 20-30% back onto their approval ratings and calm a growing powder keg of public sentiment towards them. If they do the above, then November 2010 doesn’t have to be a disaster and November 2012 a catastrophe.
So it’s up to the Democrats. Their fate is in their own hands, yet they seem oblivious to reality or worse…delusional. It’s either about ego and arrogance or the American public. Yeah they’re backed into a corner, but it’s a corner of their own creation. A corner that they can walk out of at any time unless they really are as arrogant and ego driven as we suspect they are.
American’s want Health Care Reform, but not this particular approach. Ignore them at your peril. Yes, it’s really just that simple.
No comments:
Post a Comment