Uh oh. Here's where BEING President has all the advantages over NOT being President. It seems the President is going to have a little half-day "health-care summit" at the White House, and he's invited the Republicans to join in. There he is, Mr. Reasonable, once again opening the doors of the White House to the Republican wolves. AND, ladies and gentlemen, the summit will be TELEVISED, just as he said such things would be in the campaign (and the lack of which brought considerable excoriation from the right in the Congressional negotiations). Reasonable once again! What a guy.
Except that there is a trap here, my friends, a huge one. First of all, there's the Home Field Advantage. NO ONE goes to the White House and actually goes at the President--especially on camera. Republicans do so at their own peril.
Secondly, there's the little fact that the President controls the agenda, and he's decided that the starting point in the negotiations are the two bills that passed in Congress---one in the House, and one in the Senate. Never mind that NEITHER had a snow-ball's chance in hell of passing the other chamber. Starting with those two bills puts the Republicans in the position of being the party of NO....something that will not look good on TV.
Can the Republicans not go? Nope. They'd get slaughtered. Can they get the agenda changed? Well, they can try, they can bring pressure through the media (legitimate AND Bought and Paid For) to start from a blank sheet--but they are unlikely to get anything done. So what should the Republicans do?
Send one man up to represent the Party. Just one. Paul Ryan. Not John Boehner, not Eric Cantor, not McConnell. Paul Ryan. He commands the facts better than any of them, and he comes off as reasonable, smart and likable. He knows the numbers, and he knows the Democratic plans cold. Everyone else stays home.
Monday, February 8, 2010
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5 comments:
I think this has potential for Republicans. Think of how the Democrats are going to look if Republicans throw tort reform on the table. The Dems have no good reason to say no to that, but they will. Same with the other Republican proposals. If they're prepared, they will come across well in this photo op.
I agree with CW. This is a setup. Psycho-bama went to a Republican shindig a week or so ago and the press treated it like Sadat going to Israel.
This is pure politics.
There's only so far the O MAN can go on TV. Quite a long way, in fact, but not ALL the way. I agree that Republicans need to be sharp and realistic in the counter to Mr Congeniality in the White House. He makes up the facts. Call him on it. The last time O came to the Republcamp on TV it was a score for him because Republicans don't want to come off as disrespectful and immovable. I say just don't let him walk on you with non facts. If you want to fix healthcare ask why it can't be done incrementally like everything else. Fix the Insurance being sold across state lines problem. 51 jurisdictions? come on. Take the trial lawyers' iron grip off the process and do what some states have already done. Limit damages....etc etc.
No lectern or teleprompter for Barry-O either. Both participants are seated at a table the way that Dick Cheney and Babydaddy Edwards were at their debate.
A trap?! Criminey, are Republicans that afraid of stating their ideas in a public forum? Do they think the President is going to have them abducted and taken to those re-education camps that nutter Michele Bachmann invented? And it's at Blair House, not the White House.
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