Note: There are some that believe Obama could not possibly be smarter than they, and therefore it is impossible that he could be executing a strategy. In this diary I am going to assume that he is on both counts. For any who might be offended at the suggestion that there is actually someone in the world smarter than you, and whose blood pressure might be negatively affected by this supposition, you might do well to bypass this diary
For the rest of you please join me below the fold for my interpretation of events.
Yes, Barack Obama understands the trouble with Tribbles, and he is going to use that to his advantage. We have seen him juke the Republicans by insisting on a vote by August, and then saying oops, my bad. Then he sent everyone home to watch the wing nuts behaving abominably at the town hall meetings. Next he barely muttered the phrase public option in public throughout August invoking the anger and ire of his own supporters, as he executed the take-away. Now that the Republicans are exhausted and his own supporters are on the verge of a mouth-frothing frenzy Obama simply says, "Okay folks, let the game begin" with two roaring speeches in three days. Oh, and he manages to sandwich the decimation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield in North Dakota, Kent Conrad's home state, in between. Not bad for a rookie, eh?
But what war is he fighting? It's not the war of the public option because he barely mentioned it last night. Or is it? Could he be smart enough to have a strategy? I believe so and this is what he's doing.
He just opened a multi-front war on exhausted enemy who is geared up to stop a Blitzkrieg. Did you hear all the things the Republicans will have to defend against last night? Recission, pre-existing conditions, annual and lifetime maximums, insurance exchanges, mandates, tort reform. Suddenly a battle that seemed to be over one item, the public option, has now mutated into a multi-headed monster for which the Republicans have no defense, and some in fact which they would even support. But if they support anything Obama does their heads will explode. And then an almost and aw-shucks voice he says, "Oh, by the way, public option." What's he done here?
Obama is framing the debate in his terms. He wants to talk about recission, pre-existing conditions and benefit maximums because these are the issues with which already insured people are concerned. How can the Republicans stand against them without alienating many of their constituents? Then he speaks of mandates and tort reform, concepts that are near and dear to the Republicans’ hearts. What's he done here? The Republicans have mapped out a strategy of no, so if they suddenly agree with him they will either be seen as capitulating to him or they will have to stand up against him in direct opposition to their own ideologies. All wins for Obama. But here lies his true genius.
He’ll not make this debate about the public option and avoid the specter of a government-run takeover of health care. Nope, he’ll sneak that puppy in the back door while mom is not looking, and hope that she falls in love with it.
Remember the Tribbles? That's how they got people to take one home, but what people did not know is that the way they multiplied made rabbits look like pikers and soon Tribbles were everywhere. That's what Obama is doing with the public option. Just 5% of the people, that's all, but look over here. Once it's in place, shrewd businessmen will see their competition gaining a decided advantage by saving money on it. Soon businesses will be demanding that they be entitled to access to the public option as well. After all, it's all about profits, isn't it?
Obama is dumb like a fox. He's going to fight the fight that he wants, and avoid the fight that the Republicans want, all the while attaining his ultimate goal. He is NOT going to put the public option on point. Once it is in, like the Tribbles and Medicare and Social Security, it will multiply and within 10 years be the major player in the health insurance market. Yep, Obama had a plan and he stuck to it, and soon the public option will be ours.
Oh, and for those of you who still believe he's too stupid to have a strategy, the sky is falling, the world is coming to an end, they're coming to take me away ha ha, hee hee, ho ho, to the funny farm... but hey, at least you will have the public option when you get there.