It's the Economy Stupid!

[Archaea]

Bill Clinton rode to victory on that mantra and voters bought his snake oil.

Obama is ignoring this issue to his detriment. Now, lest the Reps get overly snug, the Dems sell snake oil better than most and if Obama passes some mild compromise so he can claim victory and then moves on to the economy, the Dems have a chance to thwart many losses.

From what I can divine from the few races we've had, there really is no consensus amongst voters, there rarely is. In better economic times, voters would be impressed with changes in the health care delivery systems and in the health care insurance arena. However, when the economy is as bad as it is, that comes first and any politician who forgets that will be voted out of office. So the Dems have a delicate balance to strike, they need enough programs to buy off their constituency, but not to many to cause fears of inflation and high taxation. It's a delicate tight rope to walk and not every Dem can do it effectively. As an opponent of Obama's agenda, I'm worried he's smarter than the average Carter and will learn from his mistakes. Will he continue to miscalculate on this health care issue and continue spending like a pig? We'll see.

[Tex]

I agree that Obama's focus on health care was a huge political miscalculation. It has become a giant black vortex, sucking all the momentum out of any other initiative. Obama would have been much better served to focus on economic issues, although as a conservative I'm relieved he didn't--we've had enough TARP and pork barrel "stimulus" to last a lifetime.

The real problem for Obama and Co now is, where to go from here? They have so much political capital riding on a bill that is now probably dead. Bart Stupak--Democrat House rep and he of the Stupak Amendment--was quoted this morning as saying the Senate bill wouldn't get 100 votes in the House. A bit of an exaggeration, but still a VERY difficult slog.

The alternative is to go the highly political risky (and unpopular) reconciliation route, or start over with something less ambitious. Either way, it keeps health care on the front page for weeks or maybe months--certainly not what Obama wants right now.

Hard to believe someone so bright--so Messianic--could have been so foolish.

[MikeWaters]

I hated Bill Clinton. For two reasons: 1) he was dishonest snake, and 2) he was an extremely gifted politician. Genius even.

What I observed of Clinton was this: he was a master of picking off the low-hanging centrist fruit, dominating news cycles with these small accomplishments, and thus demonstrating to Americans that he was governing, making progress, working for the American people.

It seemed like every other day there was a new announcement from the Clinton administration about some new thing that they were doing. The Republicans were always on their heels. And they couldn't hit back, because Clinton was doing centrist stuff.

If Obama wants to be re-elected, this is what he needs to do. He needs to govern from the center, he needs to pick the low-hanging fruit, he needs to demonstrably show that he is governing, and that the GOP does nothing but complain. Right now he is SAYING that the GOP does nothing but complain, but his words ring hollow because he is not actually governing.

Of course at the end of the day the criticism of Clinton was that he didn't actually accomplish anything. That he wasn't an important president, in terms of history. Ego dictates in the case of Obama, perhaps. Being merely politically successful is not enough. He wants to be monumental. Even if that means leading his party to disaster.

I've said from the beginning, that the Obama administration smacked of amateur-hour. He is in over his head. He still his. He needs to fire Emanuel and bring in someone like David Gergen, i.e. do what Clinton did.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by Tex

I agree that Obama's focus on health care was a huge political miscalculation. It has become a giant black vortex, sucking all the momentum out of any other initiative. Obama would have been much better served to focus on economic issues, although as a conservative I'm relieved he didn't--we've had enough TARP and pork barrel "stimulus" to last a lifetime.

The real problem for Obama and Co now is, where to go from here? They have so much political capital riding on a bill that is now probably dead. Bart Stupak--Democrat House rep and he of the Stupak Amendment--was quoted this morning as saying the Senate bill wouldn't get 100 votes in the House. A bit of an exaggeration, but still a VERY difficult slog.

The alternative is to go the highly political risky (and unpopular) reconciliation route, or start over with something less ambitious. Either way, it keeps health care on the front page for weeks or maybe months--certainly not what Obama wants right now.

Hard to believe someone so bright--so Messianic--could have been so foolish.

If they can't force the existing bill through, which sounds unlikely, then I imagine they'll cobble something together, declare victory and move over into the economic arena. One puzzling aspect is voters tend to trust Dems on economics but Reps on taxes, somehow separating the two. But now with the massive spending already in place and bothering the voters, what card do the Dems play relative to the economy?