Not an American conservative leader, mind you, but Brian Mulroney, the former Prime Minister of Canada. He's a political figure that certainly knows what it means to spend political capital, as he instated a tax called the GST (goods & services tax) that made his administration extremely unpopular, and after his resignation his party was reduced from 200+ seats to only 2 seats in Parliament. But thanks to the GST (the next government promised they would get rid of it, and thankfully broke that promise) Canada was able to run successive surpluses through the 1990s and up until last year.
The GST was lowered from 7% to 5% recently, and now we have no surpluses anymore. Coincidence? No, because it was always a risk to do so, as lowering it meant that Canada had a much lower margin of safety for economic downturns.
To the speech: you can see it at the video link to the right on the page here; the video is seven minutes long. Here's the part on political capital:
"Political capital is acquired to spend in great causes for one's country," Mulroney said Thursday.
"Prime ministers are not chosen to seek popularity. They are chosen to provide leadership. . . President Obama is fighting for a form of universal health care and is encountering ferocious resistance.
"The attacks on President Obama are often bitter and mean-spirited and his approval ratings are sinking like a stone. Still, he fights on. . .
"Fifty years from today, Americans will revere the name, 'Obama.' Because like his Canadian predecessors, he chose the tough responsibilities of national leadership over the meaningless nostrums of sterile partisanship that we see too much of in Canada and around the world."
(Edit: I just watched the video and it doesn't include the part about Obama as it was just a seven minute clip from a 24 hour news network. I'll see if I can find it somewhere else though.)
I don't think that providing health care reform will result in lowered popularity for Obama, mind you, and there has been a recent uptick in support now that the summer break is over and it's possible to get the debate rolling again. Given the popularity of government-run programs like Medicare the only sane conclusion to draw is that a public option will be just as popular. It's an important message though when taking a long-term view of the situation, because ferocious opposition to something new is only temporary, and if health care reform is done right it will become a cherished institution that nobody will dare touch. In fact, as I wrote before even Young Earth Creationist conservatives don't dare touch it.
••
More stuff written by me when not on Daily Kos