Kevin Landrigan of the Nashua Telegraph on President Obama's visit to the southern New Hampshire city (over the border and just north of Scott Brown's voters):
But Obama’s defiant defense of the need to reform health care drew, by far, the biggest response.
..."I do not quit; we are going to get that done," said Obama, claiming comprehensive health care reform is near the finish line rather than out of the running.
A standing ovation from this crowd of more than 1,000 at Nashua North High School began slowly but steadily grew, prompting Obama to nod and twice repeat, "We have to get it done."
And for the Claire McCaskills of the senate who are wondering whether they should emulate Evan Bayh's reelection strategy rather than practice public service: are you anxious about using reconciliation to fix the worst parts of the bill?
Well, then, Judd Gregg's got your bipartisanship right here:
"The point, of course, is this: If you have 51 votes for your position, you win," Gregg told his Senate colleagues on the floor.
He added, "Reconciliation is a rule of the Senate (that) has been used before for purposes exactly like this on numerous occasions... Is there something wrong with majority rules? I don't think so."
In other news, that standing ovation must surely have come from the Tea People who snapped up all the tix to "crash" the event "inside and outside".
Adding:
But even if his newly combative approach notches the president some rhetorical wins, he risks alienating people at the same time.
Earth to AP: the President already has alienated people throughout 2009, the year of Lucy and the Football. Scott Brown kept all the McCain voters; Not so much for Coakley and the Obama voters. In that margin was the GOPer victory, and not all of it can be blamed on Coakley's astoundingly poor campaign.
(Crossposted from Blue Hampshire, with slight edits and title change for a national audience.)