An onside kick to start the second half may have been the biggest play call of the night, but President Obama’s audacious gambit to jump-start the stalled health care reform effort was not far behind. In an interview with Katie Couric, the president announced that he would like to hold a bipartisan health care summit in front of TV cameras at the end of the month.
Perhaps emboldened by his masterful performance at the televised House GOP caucus retreat — by consensus one of the most compelling pieces of political theater this country has seen — the president goes to the well for the second time in a month.
It’s a brilliant but risky move. The risk comes in putting health care at the forefront of the public agenda when the public would rather fixate on one thing: jobs. That impatience translates into Democratic jitteriness, which could lead to a further decline in legislative support to get something passed. Plus, Obama’s talk of bipartisanship could incense some progressive allies, who at this point are so fed up with Republican obstructionism that they see any attempt to reach out across the aisle as a sign of naivete, even weakness.
But I’m betting that Obama’s play will actually pay off. As Steve Benen notes, it’s a “call-the-bluff moment.” For months now, Republicans have complained that they have been shut out of the process. (False — remember the interminable Senate Finance Committee deliberations? And, let’s be clear, to the extent that they not been included, Republicans themselves closed the door from the outside.) Well, here’s their chance to participate, in as high-profile a setting as they can ask for. Obama’s basically saying, “Fine — you like your ideas so much? Let’s sit down and talk about them for all of the American people to see.”
It has the makings of a no-win situation for the GOP because a) they don’t really have a workable and realistic idea to reform health care and b) it’s much easier to lie about the other side when the other side isn’t there to call you on it. And as Obama demonstrated at the GOP caucus, he has the ability to confront GOP mendacity with equal measures of assuredness, intelligence, and good faith.
You can tell the Republicans are worried — and that they already have the outlines of a strategy. House Minority Leader John Boehner (OH) said in response to the president’s announcement, “The best way to start on real, bipartisan reform would be to scrap those bills and focus on the kind of step-by-step improvements that will lower health care costs and expand access.” But starting over is not an option for Obama. As a White House official said, “We are coming with our plan. They can bring their plan.” And that is how they should continue to frame it.
I wouldn’t put it past the GOP to keep humping the scrap-the-bill note and demand that the only way they can agree to a sit-down with the president is if he starts from scratch. Of course, Obama should call their bluff. Could there be a better image of Republican irresponsibility than a bipartisan summit on health care called by the president, with Democrats and the president exchanging ideas, and all those empty chairs where Republicans should be? Then again, considering how utterly uninterested they are in governing, and how the risk of revealing that fact in a nationally televised forum is too high, not showing up for the game might actually start looking like the less painful option.
Tags: Barack Obama, bipartisanship, Democratic Party, Health care, John Boehner, Politics and politicians, Republican Party
Let’s not forget how this puts the pressure of a time-frame on Democrats too. If they come up with a workable compromise before Feb 25 and can get a bill to the White House, then the meeting isn’t necessary.
Ah, but I think that 1) the Dems will have a compromise plan by then (or rather, a reconciliation bill both the House and Senate can agree to), and 2) the meeting would still go on anyway.
It’s essential that Obama continue to be seen as earnestly seeking GOP input (it helps that he is earnest), even though everyone in Washington knows it’s a good-faith gambit that won’t be reciprocated. Besides, it would look pretty bad if Obama calls off the meeting when Dems come to an agreement — it plays right into the GOP narrative of being left out. Better to call their bluff on it and have it out on national TV.
The GOP narrative of being left out is bull. They got a ton of their stuff added to the bill, and still they threatened as a block to defeat it. That should be the soundbite played nonstop.
And this bipartisan meme is silly. The GOP declared all out war a year ago, and they haven’t called it off. So bipartisanship is not only a loosing startegy, it makes Obama and the party look weaker than they really are, which is pretty weak. The bipartisan strategy is loosing us votes in every election, and it will continue to do so until we’ve lost our majorities altogether.
When will our talking heads wake up and demand the party play rough, make winning arguments, and use our majorities in both houses?