Reading the Huffington Post this Sunday (Aug 23) morning I stumbled upon this New York Times editorial (see the link below) that makes a moral case for health care reform. This is something that the White House should have done from the beginning months ago.
Instead, the administration chose to apply political pressure in a very imprudent manner by rushing health care reform through Congress and imposing a very short deadline. It also fell prey to "centrist" democratic senators (centrist...right, they are conservatives in democratic disguise, only interested in their own self-preservation), and very un-republican conservative leadership obsessed with opposing everything the Obama administration proposes not on political, or even ideological, grounds but on pathological enmity to this particular administration and hatred of all things government. It makes them very unreasonable and definitely uncivil. This in itself is not surprising, what is really appaling is the delay on the part of the administration and its allies to belatedly meet them head on allowing them to occupy discursive and media space without working an effective response.
As ambiguous and confusing as the White House's attitude in this healthcare debate is, one has to question the political principle, bravery and skill of some of the democratic congressional members. To allow a lunatic fringe of conservative extremists to torpedo and bully town hall meeting attendants without so much as confronting them or defending the rights of the people who reasonably went there to express their support, have their questions answered, or have their doubts assuaged tells me that they lack political skill and, probably, are not prepared to represent well their constituencies. But overall, the fact that these meetings descended into chaos says to me these senators and representatives don't have a profound understanding of politics, particularly the disagreeable, but often necessary, adversarial aspect.
The honorable exception is, of course, Congressman Barney Frank.
Cowering and not confronting political opponents and detractors sends the wrong message. One that could repeat the disastrous electoral results of 1994. Democrats, centrists, conservatives, and liberals alike, need to think long and hard about the consequences of not presenting a united front. All of them need to remember the reasons why they were elected, and that the voters were receptive to the Democratic Party platform in last November's election, or else they would not have voted for it.
In that sense, Democrats first need to stay vigilant and monitor all the conservative noise in the media so they can respond more effectively. Fox and CNN have been particularly unfair in the coverage. They need to demand equal time in these networks and be prepared for the hostility, the baiting, and the misinformation they will throw at them.
Second, the administration needs to coordinate efforts with their allies in the grassroots movement, not tell them to 'shut it' as Rahm Emmanuel did a few weeks ago. They are doing what the president's own grassroots organization is, again belatedly, starting to do. These are organizations that operate in political realms that elected officials choose not to go because of the risks they pose politically. If they chastise "centrist" democrats for their weak support of healthcare, so be it. If these elements within the Democratic Party are acting out of self-interest and perpetuating themselves in office they need to be reminded that, though they are bonded to particular constituencies, they are also part of a political whole. That is, they need to make an effort to put forward the argument for health care and sell it to their constituencies with all the pros and cons, common sense, honest answers, but also with a firm stand on the issue. Either way, they stand to lose, if not their seats, then at least their public standing by projecting a bland, unprincipled image. Voters will see them that way and political opponents will work hard to assign them unwelcome attributes that may cost them politically.
Finally, constituents appreciate honesty and a non-ambiguous position on important issues that concern voters, even if they don't agree with it. That is why the administration and the congressional leadership should envision a strategy for their elected officials on healthcare and other issues instead of the unclear and pretentious 'stay on message' urging. That means coordinated efforts to explain the reform bill in plain terms to voters. To draw out guidelines for confronting angry and undemocratic disturbers. That is, to tell these protesters, first, to exercise their right to free speech in a civilized manner in town hall meetings, second to respect the right of attendants who came to listen to their politicians, and third to exercise firm authority and remove disturbers of the peace from civilized proceedings. They must also not allow the opposition to define the terms of the debate nor assign labels like 'Obamacare' or 'death panels' to specific policies. That is 'bad-faith politics' of the worst kind. But if democrats are unprepared or unwilling to combat these on the political battleground in media and constituencies then they're doing a disservice to democratic politics and curtail the further development of the Republic. In the end, constituents will retain only the messages -balanced or not- that surface in their midst and will act accordingly.
If democrats lose this and their coming congressional elections, their wounds would have been self inflicted and they will only have themselves to blame. So what's the worst that can happen? Another, possibly more reactionary, round of intransigent conservatism, a cultural-political debate that will test the boundaries of civility, a continuing erosion of trust in goverment, and a hurting economy, because when people cannot know for certain that the state will not take care of them healthwise, the last thing on their minds will be fully engaging in productive activity.
Tell me what you think.
Sent from my iPhone
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