What if Obama had tried to move the corporatist Dems on health care as hard as he has the GOP?

[yurbud]

It is amazing that he had spent a year trying to lure some Republicans to vote for health care reform when he could have passed a much stronger bill much sooner by exerting persuasion and party coercion on the foot-dragging, corrupt Blue Dogs and DLCers. Instead, when he abandoned the public option, we kept hearing ''we don't have the votes'' as if the corporate Dems decisions were cast in stone.

Wouldn't it have been better to do the public persuasion on those assholes, rather than beg Charles Manson for advice on how to take care of pregnant actresses?

[niceypoo]

1. Governing from the timid center gets you nowhere

[yurbud]

4. the center isn't timid--it's corrupt

true conservatives might have voted against the bailouts on principle, but in reality, many Republicans became ''centrists'' when it came to welfare for Wall Street.

[DuaneBidoux]

10. Your joker Palin looks more accurate. Remember Joker said "do i look like a man with a plan?"

That's what I always found extremely stupid about the wingnut criticism of Obama as the joker as socialist or fascists. I have never known a socialist or fascist that doesn't have an extremely detailed plan, but the joker? He doesn't have one. More like an anarchist, or perhaps a libertarian like Ron Paul.

[ProSense]

2. Trying to move the GOP?

Isn't that impossible? The President isn't trying to move the GOP, he's giving them an opportunity (read: rope).

:rofl:

[Cha]

6. Yep.

[amborin]

9. wrong! Obama bent over backwards to get GOP approval for the stimulus bill; gave them their tax brea

tax breaks, etc....

all to get GOP approval and votes and got NOT ONE

[swilton]

3. I agree with you demonizing the Republicans

is so twentieth century.

k&r

[CrispyQ]

5. We'll never know, will we?

A squandered opportunity, like so many others. Bipartisanship, with republicans, is for those who lack the courage of their convictions or those who never had those convictions in the first place.

I'd put my money on option two.

[DuaneBidoux]

7. We'd have a health care bill, that's what.

And it would probably be much better than the one we will ultimately end up with.

[Orangepeel]

8. maybe he's been trying to move the GOP. Maybe he's been trying to look like he's trying to move them

He tried to move Olympia Snow, but I don't blame him for thinking it would be easier to move her than it would be to move Nelson, Baccus, Lieberman, etc. I'm not convinced the rest of it has not all been for show.

[Autumn]

11. We would have health care reform, instead

of Insurance Profit Protection. ''we don't have the votes'', that really means ''we don't want to vote against our own interests. ''

[yurbud]

12. yep