A blog about politics.

Health Care Moves Into Full Campaign Mode

I have this on TIME.com.

  • Print
  • Comment
Comments (14)
Post a Comment »
  • 1

    The blue dogs baffle me. In a purple district, often it is who gets the base out who ends up winning. Ticking off the base is just nuts politically speaking unless you have so much money from the corporate donors that you can run over them.
    .
    My district has 130,000 uninsured adults. My blue dog voted against HCR, against stimulus, and if he had any credible GOP opposition next year, he could easily lose by having the base just sit home.

    • 1.1

      You consider just the base, some consider the independents, sure the base is fine and needed, but if you do not win the independent then all is lost; look at the last election.
      .

      Blue Dogs life in purple states, they need the independent, they have to appeal to them to stay in office.

      Rely on the base, see the GOP.

    • 1.2

      That is live not life. Too bad there isn't an edit, but then I would edit my edits.

  • 2

    KT:

    Some of the very tactics that helped get Obama elected, they said, could be brought to bear now.

    Any ideas on what the "White House team" meant by that?
    .
    Surely they can't contend they're going to get the base "fired up, ready to go", right?
    .
    Are they talking about Obama doing personal fund-raising?

    • 2.1

      "Surely they can't contend they're going to get the base "fired up, ready to go", right?"
      .
      That would be a pretty neat trick since the White House has completely abandoned its base and Rham tells them every chance he gets to STFU.

  • 3

    No stopping reform now that Reid bought out Landrieu with Medicare bucks and Coburn has decided to refrain from reading the entire bill aloud. Just have to dodge Orrin Hatch and his extremely insensitive comments about "holy war."

    http://www.political-buzz.com/

  • 4

    Cloture vote Saturday at 8pm. Probably very wise to get that done before the break.

    KT - is it your view that if they get to debate then they'll get the vote?

    btw - Olbermann was talking tonight about a provision that lets insurance companies go national, and will let them do in effect what credit card companies have done, settle in states like Texas without bothersome regulations, from which they can pick the bones of people in any state. I hope there are not too many of these unanticipated consequences (unanticipated by most of us, I mean - planned by those who inserted the provisions, no doubt).

    • 4.1

      unanticipated by most of us
      .
      LOL.
      .
      Fully anticipated by the authors of the legislation, you mean...

  • 5

    [...] Health Care Moves Into Full Campaign Mode – Swampland – TIME.com [...]

  • 6

    Jon Walker @ FDL:

    "Delays Start Until 2014 – One of my biggest criticisms is the delayed timing. The House bill starts most of the reforms in 2013; I already thought that late start was both a moral and political disaster. Many Americans desperately need reform now, not several years from now. I also would not want to be a Democrat who voted for health care reform trying to explain why there were still so many uninsured Americans during both the 2010 and 2012 elections. To make the Senate bill appear cheaper, Reid made the disastrous decision to push back the start date until 2014! In effect, his bill is not really cheaper than the House bill, it is just scored over only six years instead of seven years."

    He actually has a favorable take on the public option in the bill, but based on opt-outs and delays, is disappointed overall. What was that # again? 44,000 something a year? Me and my memory, I tell ya. Your American gov't at work, ladies and gents, the fierce urgency of when-f'ing-ever.

    But hey, at least going into elections next year they can whip out their Reaganite talking pts. God knows we'll never see dems owning the f'ing debate on their terms, like, hey maybe saving 44,000 Americans a year is worth a big price tag, ya know! It's not quite as important as enriching Cheney's mercenaries astride the globe, but hey.

  • 7

    "platoon of top strategists (...) met with Democratic Senators Thursday afternoon to impress upon those who might be wavering that everyone's political fate is now joined with the success or failure of President Obama's top domestic priority."

    "is now"? The slowness of the White House and the Democratic party to read the political landscape is something else.

    Tepid White House leadership cost them in the stimulus debate and they learned nothing.

    From Bully Pulpit to Whispering Lectern.

  • 8

    Any ideas on what the "White House team" meant by that?

    Considering that they've continued to ask me for money at least twice a week for the last year I'd say they're talking about spreading the grease.
    .
    Blue Dogs just prove that it doesn't help to be wearing the uniform if you're not willing to play for the team. It would be a lot less sad if it weren't apparent that all their concern had absolutely nothing to do with government spending and everything to do with continuing to prop up what PL lovingly refers to as 'parasites'.
    .
    Two months ago, I used to take offense at the term. History has now shown that my concern was unjustified.

  • 9

    Seems that polling is an almost dead heat in who favors and who doesn't. It really will come down to which district or State the current Congressperson or Senator represents.
    .
    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171328.php
    .
    http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/health_care_reform
    .
    It is critical in my mind that Harry Reid get his vote this weekend. If not, I think any reform now proposed will die a slow death in the Senate.
    .
    I have been hearing of major protests over the Thanksgiving Holiday that will pressure those moderates on the fence to vote "NO" for ObamaCare.

  • 10

    Rustydog:
    .
    Rasmussen is a consistent outlier, i.e. it can be trusted to be on the fringe of the results of numerous relatively contemporaneous polls.
    .
    Check with Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com for "poll of polls" results that take these things into account.
    .
    I'm not saying you're wrong, just that Rasmussen isn't reliable by itself.

Add Your Comment:

You must be logged in to post a comment.
Swampland Daily E-mail

Get e-mail updates from TIME's Swampland in your inbox and never miss a day.

Quotes of the Day »

Get & Share
MAMADOU SY, a West African immigrant in Colorado, quoting a manager at Walmart in a complaint; 10 West African men are accusing the store of discrimination, saying it fired them to hire local workers; Walmart denies the accusation