Thursday, July 30, 2009

President Obama, "Hello??? um...I don't know what you are talking about???"

I am on a retreat with family in Detroit. Some know that my father in law is not in his best condition and we are spending some family time together. Anyway, I spoke to my mother on the phone last night and she said quite frankly, "What the hell is Obama talking about on this health care?"

I have been so entrenched and angered about congress that I had to step back and actually listen to my 69 year old mother and her simple question. Then I had to go back to campaign mode and after looking at how the White House is framing this for the public, I had to answer, "I don't know."

Simplicity is a bitch.

Really.

The more simple an answer, the easier it is for the masses to understand.

Though we are seeing our president out on the stump selling the health care message, the masses are not getting it. And my mother is a hard lefty, former precinct captain queen in Chicago, can sell a dead man anything, and if she does not get it then many others like her don't either.

I then had to take Pithy Cherub's advice and watch the AARP online/call in show on C-SPAN. If you have not watched it please do so, our president was wonderful. What struck me is all the misinformation, disinformation that is floating around out there, but even more so, the nagging question of, "Why should I be concerned about this, a senior on medicare, got insurance, etc., but why should I be concerned?"

The White House is doing a piss poor job right now on educating the public of the value of health care reform. We know that Obama's White House battle is on many fronts, we picked him to chew gum and to walk and talk at the same time, but the public is not getting this.

One thing I do know is that the Republican's argument, which is weak as water, is making headway and ground. This is due primarily to the lobbyists helping the Republican Party to muddy the waters, pay off these politicians and craft their message.

In order for President Obama to become successful in selling any health care reform, he needs a solid BILL with talking points to do so. At this point, he is going around the country and hosting town hall meetings with vague talking points. That is not specifics and that is not helping the public to understand this. Which is the problem of all these convoluted polling numbers we are seeing.

The Democrats in D.C. need to understand that if this health care initiative goes down, SO DO THEY. The Democrats in D.C. need to understand that if they are the agent of obstruction, they will be challenged at the polls. The Democrats in D.C. need to understand that if they love the power of the MAJORITY PARTY that they are at risk of becoming the MINORITY PARTY. The Democrats in D.C. need to understand that if they do not stand with their president, that they are threatening us not to stand with THEM.

My mother is like millions of Americans who like President Obama, voted for the Democrats, but if she does not understand how this will benefit HER, then millions of others don't understand EITHER.

Democrats in D.C. get your shit together and get a bill crafted that the President can SELL. We have the best person in politics to do it, stop hindering his tools with constant stalling and procrastinating. President Obama needs a bill and the public needs to understand what is at stake before it is TOO LATE.

ok, my rant for today....

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