In an interview last week with Michael Smerconish, The Undecider said, “Winning the election is just the start. Victory in an election wasn’t the change that we sought.”
I don’t know what change you sought, Barack, but letting the losers of the election dictate policy is not the change we sought. That’s innovative change, no doubt about it, but it’s not change anyone who voted for you can believe in.
Philip Elliot . . .
That election came with Obama’s promise of the government insurance option, a provision that Obama’s team now calls “preferred” but not mandatory. Obama declined to call it a deal breaker. He said “the press got excited and some folks on the left got a little excited” when he and top administration aides made statements indicating that a publicly run health insurance option was just one of several alternatives.
Since then, Obama has faced increasing criticism from his left flank. “And even though some White House advisers seem to have forgotten, the reason the public option has become central to reform is simple: We’re fed up with the insurance companies and we need real accountability for them,” liberal MoveOn.org said in a message sent to its 5 million members. “They’ve had decades to fix the problems with our health care system, but they haven’t done it.”
One caller to Smerconish’s program said he sensed the administration was making a misstep. “I’m getting a little ticked off that it feels like the knees are bucklin’ a little bit,” said the caller who identified himself as Joe. “You have an overwhelming majority in both the House and the Senate, and you own the whole shooting match. It’s very frustrating to watch you try and compromise with a lot of these people who aren’t willing to compromise with you.”