I’ve been feeling oddly optimistic for the last couple of days. My cheery attitude earned me a rebuke from a friend of mine in the House - and yet I think that the events of this week represent an opportunity rather than complete catastrophe.
Let’s start by reviewing where we are:
In 2006 and again in 2008, the American people voted for real change in Washington DC. They haven’t gotten the change they voted for, and they’re tired of waiting.
Democrats lost the Massachusetts Senate seat because the voters there believed Democrats weren’t going to deliver the populist change this country needs. Unless Democrats deliver real healthcare reform, they will have completely proved the charge that has been leveled against them: that the Democrats in Washington, D.C. are incapable of successfully fighting for and winning what the American people need.
If the President and Democratic leadership in the House and the Senate want to deliver real reform, they have a golden opportunity to do so – if the White House prioritizes delivering for the American people over the deals that they cut with the insurance companies and the drug companies.
That, at the end of the day, is the choice. Will they take it?
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