What is going on now is frustration.
Sheer frustration of the Obama White House.
I feel it, I saw it on Ed Schultz's face in talking to Linda Douglass.
I do believe that the Obama White House is not dumb to know what is going on and props to the lobbyists and GOP, they have made a dent.
If the dent works, as in changing or eliminating the public option, we lost this one.
It is obvious that the Obama White House have let congress take the direction in the health care bill.
We know that the Republican Party is the minority and in disarry, until now. The lobbyists and insurance groups have partnered with certain factions of the GOP and have made significant strides.
Let's be real here, the communications of any health care plan has been non-existent from the Obama White House. I know it is August, things are slow in August, but you don't let congress go home with the single most important piece of legislation that can make or break you and give the GOP and its operatives a chance to dissimate your legislation.
That is what is happening.
I am not big on polls until it is up to when it matters, but this poll is different. From NBC, what bothers me is that a plurality or close to a majority believe the following about Obama's health care bill:
1) illegal aliens are covered
2) abortion is covered
3) this is government take over
4) death panels
I read the Daily Kos poll and one thing out of it is that I was not comfortable that the unknown/unsure was pretty high on some of those questions.
What has happened is that the Obama White House has not been in constant step with the Democratic Congress on the MESSAGE of the health care plan. It is hard to defend any plan, at this point, when you have 6 to 8 bills floating out there.
Sarah Palin, for all that we don't like about her, had a very small message that resonated and have grabbed the public out there, "death panels". The GOP and their operatives targeted the right group, "seniors", the very group that will NEVER give any INCH on Medicare or Social Security. Muddle the message, make them believe that we have a "death squad" going and you have chaos in the message.
The GOP/Republicans. The Obama White House catered too much to the Republicans. When you have a "so-called" moderate like Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) making inconclusive statements supporting bogus death panels, you got a problem. Along with Senator Max Baucus who is compromised by his taking of large sums of money from insurance lobbyists and Senator Kent Conrad who will just say NO on any public option. It is a problem, unless Obama plans to do a switcheroo, and at this point I don't see it.
Roger Simon of Politico wrote a piece today, Does President Obama have the guts? I put this link here because I happen to hear Simon on Ed Schultz's radio program today and this stuck in my mind, "..this is why so few senators get elected to the presidency, the senate is a life of compromise...." That is Barack Obama. And that is what the battle is about right now, compromise.
The Democrats are all over the place. Forget the Republicans, they are laughing at us right now. Why? Because they pulled an old trick out of their play book and it is working, stirring it with pots of money from the lobbyists against reform and they are laughing at us twist in the wind. Democrats are speaking out, saying what they want, these "conservative/moderates" are out right not with the President and they are getting air time stating this. It is called, "I am not afraid of the President". That is being played out on television.
The media is a culprit it is a slow summer, the GOP insiders are supplying the juice and all of a sudden the cameras on on a bunch of people at town hall meetings and we are seeing small amounts of chaos.
All of this was on Ed Shultz with Linda Douglass. Frustration.
One thing I will write is that Douglass was cooler than a cucumber, she let Ed go and stuck to the talking points of "it is only August, nothing has changed, the Democrats are united."
I am still waiting to actually SEE all the talking points from Douglass come to fruition.
Lastly, the Democrats are negotiating against themselves which is equal to detrimental legislation coming down the pipe.
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