Joan Walsh: Dennis Kucinich speaks for me

[babylonsister]

http://www.salon.com/news/healthcare_reform/index.html?story=/opinion/walsh/politics/2010/03/17/kucinich_support

Dennis Kucinich speaks for me
Joan Walsh
A defeat on healthcare could be a fatal setback for covering the uninsured -- and for Obama's presidency
By Joan Walsh

snip//

In his remarks this morning, Kucinich sounded concerned, and pained, about the crazed and vicious opposition that the Obama presidency has inspired on the right. "One of the things that has bothered me is the attempt to try to delegitimize his presidency. That hurts the nation when that happens," the Cleveland congressman said, sounding genuinely anguished. "We have to be very careful" that "President Obama's presidency not be destroyed by this debate ... Even though I have many differences with him on policy, there's something much bigger at stake here for America."

Kucinich knows as well as anyone that the president is far from a socialist; he's a centrist corporatist Democrat, and that was clear back when Kucinich stood well to his left during the 2008 primaries. And even though the Cleveland progressive normally avoids partisan calculations about power and opportunity, and votes his conscience and ideology, Kucinich decided to support Obama's healthcare reform plan because right now, partisan calculations about power and opportunity actually serve his left-wing conscience and ideology.

Kucinich understands, in a way that folks like Michael Moore don't seem to, that there will be no healthcare reform for another generation if this bill doesn't pass. There will be no second Obama term either (and don't dream about lefty primary challenges -- there won't be a Democrat in the White House in 2013 if his name isn't Obama). The only thing worse than being an alleged socialist in American politics is being a weak, ineffectual socialist, and if the president and his party can't get this package passed, despite controlling the White House and a healthy majority in both houses of Congress, they will be rebuked by the voters. And maybe rightly rebuked. What better sign that a party isn't ready to govern?

I've written extensively about my disappointment with Obama and the Democrats, particularly around the healthcare reform plan. He gave Republicans and conservative Democrats too much power for too long, and he sold out early to the insurance and pharmaceutical industry. I don't like the deals Obama made, but he did what he thought he had to do. The left thinks he's wrong; we can prove that when we have a better hold on power. But we won't move the party left by abandoning Obama on healthcare (on detention and secrecy issues, I mostly have abandoned him). Like it or not, Obama is roughly at the party's center; we should work to pull him left. If progressives set him up as a right-winger to try to demonize and defeat him, they will become irrelevant.

This bill isn't perfect, but it will help millions of people. That's why Republicans are fighting it so hard -- and why they decided to fight it before Obama made a proposal (as this profile of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell shows). Right now, I believe, conscience and ideology are served by looking at the political calculations: This bill is the best we can do right now. Obama was the best we could do in a president. A defeat hurts not just Obama, but the progressive movement in this country.

snip//

In 2010, this is as good as it gets when it comes to healthcare reform. Progressives have to work harder to build support -- real, voting support, not just opinion-polling support -- for our views. (I know people nominally support the public option in opinion polls, but it doesn't yet drive their votes like other issues do.) We can make the healthcare system better after the bill passes, and we can make Congress better. But it will be very hard to do either if Obama and the Democrats lose this one.

[cornermouse]

1. Translation:

The problem is not the fact that the bill worthless. The problem is that liberal democratic voters are refusing to support the worthless bill.

Solution: Bully and beat up the liberals till they give in. The problem with that is the fact that us grassroot voting type liberals are out of Obama's reach.

[babylonsister]

4. Worthless to you maybe, but not to a whole lot of other people

less fortunate than you.

Here are the top 10 immediate benefits; you should consider yourself lucky that you just don't need to worry yourself about any of these.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x227875

[cornermouse]

5. I've read that list several times now.

Seriously. Most of it is projections of hope and wishes. The rest of it is outright baloney.

The fact is, if it gave us what we needed, the opposition you're seeing would melt away quickly. This doesn't and that's the why for the opposition you're seeing.

[babylonsister]

6. You fail to acknowledge all the people who have hopped on board

the reform bus. And you hope it's projection which is a sad little commentary all by itself.

[cornermouse]

8. I'm sure you got a busload of supporters in D.C.

Outside D.C. is another story entirely. Then again, the people in D.C. thought escalation in Afghanistan was a wonderful idea. The rest of us didn't like that idea at all.

[Dawgs]

7. Wow. That's a pretty fucked up translation.

Man! Some people are nuts.

[cornermouse]

9. You might as well give it up

You're never going to be able to browbeat this Kansas girl into falling in line.

[liberal N proud]

2. The first paragraph sums things up

The constant attack on President Obama by the right and those who disagree with him on any ONE policy is hurting America and destroying Obama's Presidency.

Damn, when we get an excellent man to server as President, they destroy him every fucking time.

[cornermouse]

3. If Obama's presidency is so flimsy in content that

one defeat will take him down, then he's got bigger problems than an inability to pass a bill.