I have spoken to several of my relatives back in conservative areas of PA about health care and what is being discussed. I was curious if I could find out why support for the Public Option and President Obama's health care reform was waning. What I discovered was interesting.
The prevailing belief is that the Public Option is equivalent to a big government give-away to lazy, poor people (i.e. non-whites - blacks and latinos). The employed will see their taxes go up to pay for this give-away to the lazy, no-good, moochers. Unfortunately, the term "Public Option" has been made equivalent to good old blast from the past code word, "Welfare Mom".
The Obama team made a huge mistake when it did not come out with a plan of their own with clear definitions of what was being proposed. The lack of a single clearly defined plan has allowed the obstructionist Republicans to take any snippet from any of the several different bills and to twist it into scary rhetoric. By not having a single well-defined plan Obama is forced to talk in generalities and to try to sometimes have to explain contradictions from the several bills. It makes him look confused and unsure of what he is talking about and does not install any confidence.
This is what I am hearing from my relatives. They live in a fairly conservative area of PA, but most of their neighbors would be considered independent or moderate rather than rabid conservative. From what I gather from our discussions, the majority of these citizens are not happy with our current health care system. They believe it is broken and do not trust the big insurance companies at all. Unfortunately, because of the bungling and unclear message about what is being proposed for health care reform, most of them have been led to believe that the proposal is more about a give-away to the poor on their backs rather than a meaningful change that will benefit everyone.
I really hope Obama will be able to redefine the debate with his upcoming speech. He really needs to have his own proposal that he gives with SPECIFIC DETAILS that rebuts the opposing rhetoric. Unfortunately, from what I saw of his team on today's Sunday talk shows, the message is still muddled and no specificity or detailed plan is forthcoming.
I hope the next time that I talk to my relatives, Obama has managed to change attitudes, however I don't hold out much hope right now.