So, as predicted, tonight's edition of PBS’s Frontline revealed the depth of Obama’s compromising (compromised?) nature, as viewed through the lens of the health care reform battle.
The president’s fiercest critics on the left implored us to watch the show, because, they promised, it would prove they’ve been correct all along to oppose his reform efforts.
Apparently these critics don’t like the recent trend among Dems to portray the imperfect legislation in a positive light. Better to join forces with Fox News et al in spreading the impression that the bill does little more than force hard-working Americans to donate billions of dollars to the insurance industry.
Since they are clearly doing everything they can to ensure that conventional wisdom turns permanently against the Democratic reforms, these progressive critics must realize they are damaging Democratic chances in the upcoming midterms. They must have convinced themselves they are fighting for something even more important.
But what?
When they accuse Obama of engaging in "political theatre" and "shafting" the American people, they must be fighting for some kind of repeal and reform, right?
Well, actually, they’re not overly clear about how their negative efforts will lead to improvements in the health care system. Perhaps they’re simply operating on blind faith that their own personal vindication would be a good thing for the country. Above all, they certainly see themselves as righteous.
They need to take some lessons in real-world politics from our president.
Ironically, many of these progressive critics of Obama portrayed him during the campaign as too naïve about politics -- too idealistic, incapable of getting dirty, making deals, twisting arms, a la LBJ. The system, they said, would chew him up and spit him out, and, after all the feel-good rhetoric, we’d see no real progressive change.
But anyone who listened carefully to him understood that he intended to attack his new job very much as a pragmatic politician. He’d been consistently clear that he was more interested in getting things done –- guided by a patient long view –- than in making righteous proclamations.
He exhibited a striking self-awareness when he fatalistically discussed how Washington would inevitably sully him (this was one of his reasons for running "out of turn," before becoming so entrenched that it would be impossible to implement the fundamental changes he envisioned). To my mind, this was evidence of a rare intelligence that is far superior to the typical delusions of politicians who never get anything done because they’re drowning in self-aggrandizing fantasies. Obama’s main goal is not to preserve his self image. He’s like a well-tuned race car, bound to get banged up a bit inside the DC beltway. He wants to accomplish all he can while he can -- while he’s still running on all cylinders.
Not a day goes by that I’m not grateful to Obama for his willingness to throw himself so completely into the muck and mire of governing. While it would be silly to believe he’s infallible, I do not for a minute think he would settle for, say, imperfect health care reform because he’s a sellout. The health care legislation he signed is a foot in the door.
It’s not "barely better than nothing" (as some here have argued). It is fundamental change. As Obama says, "it moves us in the right direction." Until now, the door has been shut tight, bolted, impenetrable. The legislation IS a big fucking deal. But it’s just the beginning. And Obama, as he’s always said, expects us to continue fighting to push the door open wider and wider. He can’t do it alone.
Which brings me to my point.
There’s a fine line between fighting for progressive change and kneecapping our leaders who have to actually figure out how to get there, juggling all the ramifications of success and failure.
Please, folks, let’s try to be as smart as Obama in our strategizing.
What good does it do to advertise the purity of our convictions if we are contributing to a Fox News narrative? (Of course the problem is not just Fox News; all the networks serve as concern trolls, because disaster narratives are their bread and butter.) It blows my mind that any progressive could look back on the last year and not realize that all the vitriolic attacks harmed the reform cause. One need only look to the polls since August – with only thirty-something percent supporting "Obamacare" – to see that the media lumped progressive rejection into the same pool as corporate and tea party rejection of the legislation.
I have zero doubt that over the next few years we will see not only a broadening of reform, but a gradual solidification of public support for the new paradigm (which, yes, begins to consider health care a right, not a privilege).
The bigger problem is shorter term. Our immediate concern should be this year’s elections. With the GOP doing everything it can to ensure reform remains unpopular through November, progressives who pile on are simply aiding and abetting.
Nothing in Frontline surprised me or shocked me. Nothing made me doubt Obama’s abilities or intentions. The quid pro quo (for an individual mandate) with the insurance industry does not bother me. I'm glad to have a flexible, practical president, instead of a stubborn idealogical cowboy. If anything, Frontline’s indictment was of the system (which is populated by the likes of Max Baucus and Billy Tauzin and Chuck Grassley and Scott Brown). And, while I’m no fan of that system, I feel very lucky to finally have a president who’s willing to navigate it, even as he desires to reform it over the long haul.
Any deal made in this legislative cycle can be reversed in the future. Now that the reform door has been opened, certain fixes will be inevitable as flaws come to light. E.g., my guess is that a public option, sooner or later, will sail through as an obvious, fiscally conservative solution.
As much as Frontline portrayed Obama as a deal-making politician, it also showed him to be balanced in his pragmatism. He was not willing to go along with Rahm Emanuel's concessions in the face of the August backlash. While he was willing to compromise, he was not willing to take an easy, empty victory. And, speaking of compromise, he completely gave up on his cherished goal of bipartisanship. After initially trying to play nice with the insurance industry, he ultimately decided to play hardball against it. This is all in the Frontline episode.
Our president never gave up. As a result we have a new, progressive paradigm for our health care system.
Yes, we must keep pushing for a progressive agenda, pressuring our leaders – including the president. But when I see such blatant political malfeasance coming from members of the left who choose to feed the meme that Obamacare will do nothing but rip off the American people, I’m left to conclude that these critics are more concerned with their own legacies than actually getting things done. Right now, more than anything, we should be contributing positively to public opinion regarding ALL the great things Obama is working on.
We should be giving him as much political capital as possible so that he has more leverage in his efforts and so that more Dems will get elected in November.