I'm listening to Morning Edition as I post, to one of the Blue Dog Democrat's saying this: "The art of politics is compromise; what's possible."
Governance in this country is achieved through political maneuvering. To reform health care, President Obama must be a political animal. Last night, both columnists conservative David Brooks and liberal Mark Shields said on PBS "The News Hour" that Barrack Obama had not only made his case for health care reform well, but had made his best speech as president. High praise indeed from a couple of well-respected political pundits.
What President's up against in the political arena, however, was demonstrated by the (mostly) sour looks on the faces of Republican members of Congress, the infamous outburst by South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's puzzling post-speech statement, “There's a bipartisan agreement on the need for reform. (But) he set up a false choice between a massive government takeover or no reform at all. Frankly, that isn't the choice.”
So, my fellow WMRAers. What do you think? Not so much about health care reform, as about President Obama's political chops. Does he have the level of political skill and toughness necessary to get a bill achieving health care reform through Congress?
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From Chris Edwards, sent to my e-mail: That will take incredible skill and toughness, given the circus atmosphere from resentment-pandering politicians and shock-jocks, and a mainstream media that makes a lead story out of every belch the shock-jocks emit, while blowing off informative dialogue. Obama’s commitment to civility, and to bringing everyone to the table, may seem Quixotic in that atmosphere. Yet he restored a glimmer of my hopes near the end of his Sept. 9 speech when he movingly described health care and other reforms as coming from “part of the American character. Our ability to stand in other people's shoes. A recognition that we are all in this together; that when fortune turns against one of us, others are there to lend a helping hand...and an acknowledgment that sometimes government has to step in to help deliver on that promise.” Yes -- dare we say it? -- there ARE liberal values. Democrats shouldn’t hide them.
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