Engagement. Publicity. Transparency. And most of all, no media filter. A masterstroke:
President Obama said Sunday that he would convene a half-day bipartisan health care session at the White House to be televised live this month, a high-profile gambit that will allow Americans to watch as Democrats and Republicans try to break their political impasse.
The best sign? Republicans are already stumbling for a way out, by demanding that Obama take the current Senate bill “off the table” before opening negotiations. He won’t, and he shouldn’t. Should the Republicans walk away from this conference, or fail to negotiate in good faith, and then attempt a filibuster, the spin is literally foolproof, and thank God for that. The current Republican position is only tenable so long as (1) negotiation is avoided, and (2) the blame falls on the Democrats. Because it sweeps condition 2 off the table, this could be our breakthrough.
Of course the Republicans won’t meet withour preconditions. Obama’s a terrorist, remember?
Posted by Kris | February 8, 2010, 1:20 pmIt will be especially hard for Republicans to prove that they’ve been shut out of the process after reading Ezra Klein’s piece on the six Republican ideas that are already in the health bills:
Posted by Victor | February 8, 2010, 2:15 pmHow can the spin be foolproof? The Dems have had ample opportunity – and failed – to highlight and exploit the right’s lunatic obstructionism, so the right can backpedal on this without much fear of repercussion. The ongoing struggle to obtain bipartisanship in the face of the right’s overt and lockstep refusal is a political mystery for the ages.
Posted by petera1 | February 8, 2010, 4:19 pm[...]Some of Obama’s most ‘energetic’ supporters think this is (choke) a masterstroke. Others who are a bit less in-the-tank see this for what it is; political theater.[...]
http://progressconservative.com/2010/02/08/back-to-healthcare/
Posted by Mike at The Big Stick | February 8, 2010, 4:46 pmIt’s the democrats. No spin is fool-proof. They will find some way to muck this up.
Posted by MarshallDog | February 9, 2010, 10:35 am