Let’s cue up the circular firing squad. John Cole nails exactly what I’m feeling right now:
About health care reform is that it is a primer for Banking and Financial Regulation. We get to look forward to watching the House bill get neutered down by the conservadems, the GOP will be aligned in unison with industry against, and then when the final bill is not up to Howard Dean’s standards, the progressives can sink it because it isn’t good enough, and noted liberals like Tom Harkin, Ron Wyden, and Russ Feingold will be labeled sellouts to the cause just like they were with health care. Also, I’m sure this will all be Rahm’s fault.
Then we can stand around and masturbate each other about how, unlike Republicans, progressives stuck to their principles and refused to pass a bad bill. FAP FAP FAP. Then we can get wiped out in 2010 and 2012, and we are back to where we really like to be- in the minority, bitching about the Republicans, raising lots of money for our PACS, while Sarah Palin cuts the top marginal rate to 4% and invades Iran.
Victory!
Listen, just because I think we should try to salvage what we can out of the remaining health care bill doesn’t mean I don’t share your deep disappointment with losing the public option. Starting over isn’t really an option – we still have the same people in the coalition and we are facing a worse atmosphere for passing legislation. If we do nothing, those 45 million people still won’t have insurance. No matter what happens now, the insurance companies still win. They win with the status quo and they win with the reform. They would still win with the public option, which had been almost completely neutered and watered down before it finally died.
Disengaging and doing nothing does not make progressive legislation more likely to pass. It makes it less likely. I’m with everyone when I say I don’t really see a difference if Blanche Lincoln, Joe Lieberman, Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson were replaced with Republicans. But majority matters. Being an opposition party is a lot different than being a governing party. Democrats need to learn how to govern and they need to look competent while doing it.
I do think we’ve learned some things from the fight:
1) don’t pre-compromise your position. How different would it be if single payer was the progressive line in the sand? Would everyone be sighing a sigh of relief that they were unhappy about a public option?
2) public relations is important. I think we all have a legitimate case that the Democrats and the administration was asleep in the summer. But what about us? Where were we making asses of ourselves at townhall meetings in the summer? I know the media is mostly conservative-run, but where is our media outlet? Where are out obnoxious talk show yellers?
3) put pressure on Democratic leaders. Jane Hamsher did a great job with her whip project on the progressive caucus in the House. What was the effort in the Senate? There is also another issue to be addressed – the dysfunctionality of the Senate. If we want progressive legislation passed, we need to put a lot of passion and effort into affecting how legislation moves in the Senate.