So the president insisted on passing a watered down romneycare(he said so himself) HC bill and said it will all get better after it is passed. It had some good stuff in it (like the class act, student loans) but it is unsellable without the PO. And his numbers just hit a new low. And I bet a lot of dem dis-satisfactions has something to do with it.
The numbers: Gallup 45% approve, 48% disprove
http://www.gallup.com/...
And last week CBs: Approval 44%, disapproval 43%.
More alarming for November: Support of the HC among dems? 54%
http://www.cbsnews.com/...
The public option consistently polled far better this HC bill. But no we had to sacrifice that in favor of far more despicable items in the bill like the mandate (wait until people start getting fined for not buying over-priced policies, dems will pay a PR hell for that) and the excise tax. We just HAD to ignore the wishes of our base & the American population over the corporations!
Poll: Key States Greatly Prefer Public Option Over Senate Health Care Plan
Newsweek Poll-Feb/20/2010: Americans Still Favor Public Option (50%), Still Oppose Excise Tax(55%)
Public Option Polls (8 respected pollsters-All with plurality support) - Health Care Reform Bill
And do not give me the bullshit that stuff like pre-existing conditions and "small business taxes" were more popular. Of-course they were. It is like asking people do you like cute little puppies?
Does the preexisting condition still work when there is no competition and and the private HC companies run the show? How can the premiums be kept down when there is almost zero competition in the market? The public option was a significant ideological, substantive part of the bill and without it the bill is diminished significantly in the eyes of the base and the American people.
In light of above develompents I think Ron Paul is right this time. Obama is no socialist, he is a corporatist.
Ron Paul: Barack Obama is Not a Socialist:
NEW ORLEANS–Republicans and tea party activists are fond of accusing President Barack Obama of being a socialist, but today party gadfly Ron Paul said they had it wrong.
"In the technical sense, in the economic definition, he is not a socialist," the Texas Republican said to a smattering of applause at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference.
"He’s a corporatist," Paul quickly added, meaning the president takes "care of corporations and corporations take over and run the country."
Even a broken clock can be right twice a day, and the above analysis is spot on regarding Obama's ideology.
It is becoming clearer and cleaner that dems are heading into a massacre this November because they have trashed their base again and again and indys don't think much of people who have no supporters (ie they are flicky and listen to arguments of both sides bashing dems). This is the ugly picture:
Lowden Holds Solid Leads in Nevada Over Reid. Even with teabagger in running.
Sandoval Still Leads in Nevada for Gov.
A Squeaker in Hawaii house race (of all places)
Nate :Generic Ballot Suggests Democrats Could Lose 50+ Seats
Nate Silver notes the current Republican lead in the generic congressional ballot could translate into a significant loss of House seats if the election were held today.
"Although analysts debate the precise magnitude of the difference, on average the generic ballot has overestimated the Democrats' performance in the popular vote by 3.4 points since 1992. If the pattern holds, that means that a 2.3-point deficit in generic ballot polls would translate to a 5.7 point deficit in the popular vote -- which works out to a loss of 51 seats, according to our regression model."
"If Democrats were to lose 50, 60, 70 or even more House seats, it would not totally shock me. Nor would it shock me if they merely lost 15, or 20. But their downside case could be very far down."
It is a bleak picture and unless the centrists wake up to the fact that they cant be elected without their base it will be too late to admit guilt in November. Centrists and their supporters like mark warner is god should start figuring out what is wrong NOW and not after the elections. It is too late to sing mea cupa and acknowledge problems AFTER the fact. Like after the MA elections:
The Base Problem by Mark Warner is God
File this one under "Duh": The Democrats have a base enthusiasm problem.
And a week after that it was all forgotten, with blame going around so the conservedems can forget their own shortcomings. Well if the democrats and specially Obama keep on this triangulating path with their base (which will depress turn outs and volunteers) there will be a huge price to pay for their jobs. In 2010 and 2012. Hope someone is listening. The soul of the democratic party BELONGS to progressives and they will/should punish anyone trying to sell it to the devil for cheap trinkets (like those non existent GOP votes).
Adios.