On health care, Obama’s willingness to forgo the public option is sure to anger his party’s liberal base. But some administration officials welcome a showdown with liberal lawmakers if they argue they would rather have no health care law than an incremental one. The confrontation would allow Obama to show he is willing to stare down his own party to get things done. – Politico
According to a new CNN poll, “a majority of independent voters disapprove of how Barack Obama’s handling his job as president.” Now, I leave polling analysis to the few experts who are any good at it. However, the current numbers heading into next week’s resumption of political business after the recess are enough to give anyone pause. Especially since one of the Democrats’ core issues will lie in the balance of what they think they can push. Bad numbers invariably means cautious politicians, which isn’t good for anyone who wants bold, sweeping and courageous legislation out of Congress.
Interesting that the CNN poll also says that 9 out of 10 Democrats “approve of the job Obama’s doing, up three points from a month ago.” Well, that certainly isn’t representative of Obama’s biggest supporters, people around here, as well as die hard progressive activists who feel the wind going out of the sails, and not just because we lost one of the biggest champions on health care reform we’ve ever had. All of this taken together, including the 8-point drop from Republicans, doesn’t bode well for any public option, co-op or otherwise, going forward. Because Obama’s got Dems, with Independents the group he’s lost, who also happen to be the most concerned about costs, the deficit, as well as bad PR health care reform picked up from too little messaging and framing out of the White House, also known as lack of leadership from the top.
Rasmussen numbers for Obama, but also the generic congressional ballot, are even worse.
I’m not trying to be negative or rain on anyone’s hope parade regarding the public option, or saying you shouldn’t still work your hearts out. It’s just that the political analysis of the situation is what it is and has been for quite some time; ever since Obama and the Democrats allowed the deadline for a deal to slip into oblivion during the August recess. It’s not about Obama making the base happy. It’s about gaining back some of what he’s lost among Independents. The rationale being that Democrats aren’t going anywhere. There’s nowhere else to go.
Asked if the union would work against any bill that did not hit those targets, Trumka told reporters during a briefing: “That means we won’t support the bill if it doesn’t have the public option.” – AFL-CIO: Gov’t option an absolute must
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