As someone who signed on early in support of Obama's Presidential campaign, I have long since realized that his approach to political "stategery" is cool, calculated and innovative. His decision NOT to attack Hillary Clinton in the Fall of 2007 despite slumping poll numbers was criticized by the entire political establishment, for example, but his gamble proved to be integral to the upset in Iowa. Which brings us to his approach to Health Care Reform: for a long time, this has been strategy, pure and simple. Think for a minute what the White House has stockpiled here. Can it be any more obvious that this is a "don't shoot til you see the whites of their eyes" strategy?
They have compiled hours of incriminating video tape to run as needed in the 2010 elections, from all the Republican "luminaries", spewing obstructionist and traitorous rancor. They have ugly footage of angry, ignorant "ordinary citizens" spewing hate, racism and obvious falsehoods, and carrying assault rifles to boot. They have gone WAY out of the way to float every possible concession, knowing that the Republicans wouldn't budge and would take the bait. They now have a clear field to do Health Care reform with a Public Option and with all of the ingredients that will give it the best chance to succeed.
And this has been done, in part, to provide cover for Max Baucus, Ben Nelson and their ilk in the Senate so that they can help us reach 60 votes to deny the filibuster and then vote as needed on a final bill that contains a public option. If their votes are needed to reach the majority, Blue Dogs have the cover of having fought the good fight to slow this down, which will help them in their conservative states. (Read Kevin Sack's piece in the NY Times from a couple of days ago about Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas to better understand why this is such an important component of the strategy.)
Remember when Rahm Emmanuel scolded activists a few weeks ago about running ads against Ben Nelson and other Blue Dogs? He did it because the HCR strategy was long since in operation. Any Obama operation excels at counting and they do their homework. They had to figure out a way to solve the Democratic votes in both the House and the Senate, and create a mechanism for centrists and Blue Dogs to get on board. And boy, the Republicans have fallen for this, hook, line and sinker. Charles Grassley, for one, could be reading from scripts written by David Plouffe and David Axelrod--perfect campaign fodder for 2010.
Do you think Obama and his crew got to where they are by being emotional and reactive? No, they outsmart people by always taking the long view. I suspected this is what they've been up to, and for me it was confirmed earlier this week by the big grin on Howard Dean's face when he made the rounds of morning and evening shows to insist that everything's on track. Morning Joe was stunned, because it dawned on him for the first time that the Republicans were in the process of being pawned. Another confirmation came last night on MSNBC: there was Linda Douglass with a serene Mona Lisa smile on her face, calmly enduring Ed Schultz's interrogating rant about their "mishandling" of the politics of this.
We should all know by now that this is Obama's way of doing business. He also uses these moments to quietly slip in, without fanfare, policy changes that advance the progressive agenda. I think his record as a stategist speaks for itself.