I'm happy to be counted with the optimists--the fight is far from over. This week we have seen an intriguing addition to the message: Medicare. Will this be the tipping point in the debate?
What if--for the sake of the argument--the possibility of expanding Medicare becomes the alternative to both the undefined "public option" and the alternative "Co-op" model (also un- or poorly-defined).
This could change the actual substance of the debate. Medicare is popular with seniors, and could be the negative price pressure-point, that is proven to work in the role it was designed.
The beauty of this is that the Republican defense will be stretched very thin to hold the line on both the "The government can't work" line on the public option, and the potential of an expanded--if not universal--single payer system. The more they criticize one of these options, the more they validate the other. Is single payer the ultimate enemy?--then the alternative public option doesn't have it. Trying to scare seniors with talk of death panels? Then have some more Medicare.
I'm not sure how the numbers would work, but assuming the math adds up, the Republicans will have hard time defending both fronts.
One more thing--during the election, I referenced some of the Obama camp's strategy as akin to the Rope-a-Dope. I see the same possibility here. Not that we shouldn't speak up to advocate for what we want, but I think there's a lot more to the picture than we've perhaps considered.