[quote=afx114][quote=Allan from Fallbrook]Obama’s first, and fatal, mistake was entrusting those bozos with the crafting of the bill.[/quote]
I kinda agree with this but kinda don’t. People point to Clinton not letting Congress craft his bill as the reason for its failure. So then what’s a president to do?[/quote]
Afx: Granted, this is post facto armchair quarterbacking, but I think Obama should have used his (early) bully pulpit to “sell” this bill to the American people. He had the political capital and, whether the Republicans want to admit it or not, the mandate, to push this forward.
Given that we all now have 30 second attention spans, he should have boiled the key elements down and, using something like FDR’s Fireside Chats, sold it to the public. Concurrently, he should have delivered a clearly written precis to Congress (“This is what I want”) as marching orders.
Not trying to bash Obama, but I think this health care bill clearly illustrates his lack of experience in crafting/drafting and passing large-scale legislation. Say what you will about LBJ, Reagan or even Dubya, but they knew the routine, especially when it came to arm-twisting, influence peddling and calling in favors. Obama delivered himself to the Republicans with his neck already exposed and they pounced.
Other posters have denigrated the GOP for marching in lockstep and much of that criticism is valid, but its worked pitch perfectly on health care. Again, not condoning it, just making an observation.
