Franken: We'll Pass Health Care 'One Way Or The Other'

We absolutely know that if the GOP was in this predicament that would just pass the bill regardless. The Republicans are tougher than the Democrats.

Well it is time for Democrats to grow a pair.

We already know there are ways to get this done, regardless of the outcome of today's election. So, I'd be inclined to believe Al.

Josh has this right:

"4) once again give Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson and who knows Kent Conrad get another opportunity to jack everyone up with new hand-wringing over the bill or Brown's seating or just whatever."

I can't trust those assholes.

We need to bypass Joe and Co. They will use the election in Mass. as an excuse to "slow things down".

I vote Plan B, and fixing it with reconciliation.

What I want to know is where has Joe Lieberman been in all of this? Shouldn't he be out stumping for Brown?

Well it's nice to see that you all have properly diagnosed the situation.

The real problem is that your team in Congress isn't radical enough. You know, they don't have the stones to completely ignore the voice of the people and ram through a bill to reorganize 1/6th of the economy, that clearly lacks the support of a majority of the voting populace, to become the law of the land. Who cares about the long established rules of the Senate and the democratic process? You all know all of you here have the answers, the voters out there are stuuuupid, right? What do they know? (One word of advice, however, you might want to think twice about the poo-poohing procedure, I have a feeling your folks in MA are going to be citing the need to stick to the letter of the law on certification A LOT in the next few days).

Has it crossed anyone's mind that you all might want to take a break from brow beating your favorite liberal officeholder and take in the bigger picture that is now very clearly in focus after the messages of Virginia, New Jersey, Mass., Westchester County, etc, (its a long list, but I'll stop there for the sake of brevity).

There comes a time in every Presidential administration when they have to assess the course they are on after the giddy early days following the election. That time has come for Obama. The country is quite clearly rejecting his agenda as reflected in the polls and the elections. He hasn't even made it to the mid-term elections and he's already in the ditch!

Might I humbly suggest that all the members of the left assemble here step away from the keyboard and reflect on what has happened in the last 3 months and the message that the country is sending you. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but most of the country does not resemble Cambridge, Berkeley or the Upper West Side, and a legislative agenda that warms the hearts of residents from those burgs will never fly in our system of checks and balances - there simply aren't enough people that will support it.

Time for a plan B folks (Yes, I really did hear a comparison of Obama to Carter on TV today - first one that I can recall, but after the votes are toted up tonight, it probably won't be the last.) Start at the center and build a coalition outward from there (that is what Obama promised in the campaign after all). You won't get all you want, but you will actually get something done, and it will have enough support that it won't be overturned in 1 or 3 years time. I realize this is a bitter pill, but you're going to have to wait a while longer to realize the dream of the liberal utopia. The country isn't ready to follow you there. Don't blame us when you turn around and find that no one has joined your parade.

Oops, spoke too soon, here's the second Jimmy Carter reference of the day:

http://www.politico.com/arena/

Larry J. Sabato
Professor of Politics, University of Virginia :

Dear Rahm,

I remember 2006, when you richly earned your reputation as a political tactician and energy machine without peer. Your talents are needed again, for your president is well on his way to becoming another Jimmy Carter. Like Carter (though it happened later in Carter’s term), Barack Obama has been dealt some dreadful cards. But lousy hands can be well played. Bill Clinton got a lousy hand, too, and he shrewdly turned adversity to strength, and won reelection. Which Democratic president will be your role model for Obama--Carter or Clinton? To ask the question is to answer it.

No sense re-hashing the mistakes of the past year. It’s obvious to almost everyone that Obama over-read his mandate, just as most presidents have done. Democrats have restored the once-discredited charge the GOP made against them: “Tax and tax, and spend and spend.” Oh, and now you’ve added a third phrase to the litany: “Debt and debt.” Yes, this is ironic to the max, considering that the Bush administration and a Republican Congress doubled the national debt and spent wildly without paying for its priorities. But political reality is what it is.

The way out is painful but simple. Make economic recovery your exclusive domestic focus. Reduce health care reform to bare-bones items that are supported by large majorities. Stop trying to remake the world in one fell swoop during hard times. The current jerry-built rig probably won’t work as advertised anyway. Drop the other controversial items from your agenda, such as most of climate change and all of card check. They aren’t going to pass, and there’s no sense encouraging mass political suicide in the Democratic congressional caucus by forcing unnecessary votes. As we’ll all see in November, there will be plenty of casualties as a consequence of votes already cast. Focus on incremental changes that matter, such as federal court appointments. Become the Democratic administration that solves the national debt and entitlement crises left by your predecessors of both parties. Aggressively fight for the little guy against the greed of the big boys in the banks and on Wall Street—and mean it.

Symbolic hand-slaps won’t do. Populism is good politics, but only if people believe you

Actually it wasn't on Fox.

Just did a Google news search...looks like the Obama as Jimmy Carter meme is going mainstream pretty quickly today. Turns out this social media stuff that all you netroots love so much really accelerates that kind of thing these days.

They may have been making that analogy in 2008, but of course he wasn't even in office then so it really didn't have much credibility. Now he's been in office for a year and his presidency is already a train wreck, so I think you'll find a lot of people nodding their heads and saying, yeah that sounds right.

You guys are in denial. Time to set a new course.

New course?

No, just patience. Demographic changes in this country will overwhelm the Republitard base in my lifetime. Just how many kids can they have with their cousins? Not enough to stop the overwhelming rise in minority populations.

Beyond health care, tonight's results will also determine whether certain appointments (e.g. Dawn Johnsen) die on the vine. A Coakley loss would also probably mean Obama would need to revise his Supreme Court short-list (Stevens and Ginsberg were rumored to be retiring this term).