James Carville echoed the metaphor made famous this past summer by Senator Jim DeMint in an interview on "Good Morning America" earlier today. The Democratic strategist and pollster seemed uncertain Speaker Pelosi will actually have the votes necessary to pass health care but underscored the urgency to Democrats stating “If the bill loses, it proves Senator DeMint right. It will, I think, by and large, be a lot of the president’s Waterloo, and I think a lot of Democrats realize that.”
Despite the urgency, Carville seemed to find the path ahead a challenge to say the least. Carville expressed some disbelief Pelosi might actually have the votes as she claimed though he suggested it wasn't impossible: “But the math is pretty daunting. I don’t think it’s impossible but it’s going to be difficult. This is going to be a real, real fight.” For those wondering just how much of a fight passing health care might be Keith Hennessey outlines the numerous hurdles Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid face in making health care reform a reality. Not for the faint of heart, but if you are feeling really wonkish today take a gander at the mechanics of the two-bill strategy. None of this appears to be the simple "up or down vote" on health care the President and his cheerleading friends on the left would have you believe.
Despite the major hurdles facing Democrats, a cautionary note seems important here. Rasmussen finds Obama's health care reform got a bit of a bump after his summit last week. Any slight shift in winds in favor of the reform could sway a vote here or there in the House. Needless to say, this is no time to take our eye off the ball. We've seen Pelosi whip her caucus with the prowess of a circus lion tamer. "She's one tough cookie" about to face the toughest challenge of her political career. The question might be whether she will allow Obama's Waterloo to become hers as well.
Massachusetts Voters Alliance has a new ad highlighting Martha Coakley's history of corruption. Evidently Coakley's track record as a politician is just a tad, shall we say, tainted:
Here is a brief roundup of some of Martha's shenanigans:
From the Boston Herald: Attorney General Martha Coakley has run a shadow Senate campaign for months, shelling out $126,000 from her state campaign account for expenses likely tied to her Capitol Hill bid, including $15,000 for Web site upgrades just days before Sen. Edward M. Kennedy died, records show.
In the Dec. 8 primary election, Massachusetts Democrats chose as their Senate nominee a woman who kept a clearly innocent man in prison in order to advance her political career.
Attorney General Martha Coakley, the state’s top lawyer, acknowledged yesterday that she improperly filled out a federal financial disclosure she submitted to the US Senate as part of her candidacy in the special election.
Failed to disclose $250,000 in financial assets, according to Boston.com. She ought to fit in well with the Obama administration:
The Globe reported yesterday that Coakley was the only candidate, in disclosures due to the Senate by this week, to report that neither she nor her spouse had any reportable financial asset worth more than $1,000.
But her campaign said Coakley failed to list $200,000 to $250,000 in financial assets that are held by her husband, Thomas F. O’Connor Jr. The campaign said Coakley also failed to note a retirement account she holds that is worth $12,000.
The list of corruption and ethics problems surrounding Martha Coakley is staggering.
The Good news, Rasmussen has Coakley and Brown in a dead heat with a Coakley lead of a mere two points:
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley attracting 49% of the vote while her Republican rival, state Senator Scott Brown, picks up 47%.
Three percent (3%) say they’ll vote for independent candidate Joe Kennedy, and two percent (2%) are undecided. The independent is no relation to the late Edward M. Kennedy, whose Senate seat the candidates are battling to fill in next Tuesday’s election.
Coakley is supported by 77% of Democrats while Brown picks up the vote from 88% of Republicans. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, Brown leads 71% to 23%. To be clear, this lead is among unaffiliated voters who are likely to participate in the special election.
Also, even better news from NRO who has a report from a spy:
My spy passes along word that Coakley herself fired up the crowd with this inspiring line: "If I don't win, 2010 is going to be hell for Democrats . . . Every Democrat will have a competitive race."
Her defeat was also described as "Waterloo for health care."
Oh nostalgia, a post from the very first day of my blog when the news of the day was health care would be Obama's Waterloo.
Gallup's latest poll shows a seismic shift in public opinion on the role of the federal government in health care. In 2006 69% of Americans thought it was the role of government to ensure everyone has health care coverage. This poll shows 47% believe this should be the responsibility of the government while the number who believed health care is not the responsibility of government grew from 28% in 2006 to 50% currently. This represents a 22 point shift in both directions.
A follow up question in the Gallup poll reveals 61% of the American people are in favor of maintaining the current health care system while those in favor of replacing the system with a new government run health care system has fallen to 32%. It looks as though more people favor "doing nothing" or maintaining the status quo. Maybe it's time for Obama's speech writers to think up a new line.
Gallup's bottom line:
The current poll results indicate that, with the renewed healthcare debate since Obama took office, Americans have become less convinced that it is an appropriate goal for the federal government to take on the responsibility of ensuring that all Americans have healthcare coverage. It is possible that the current debate has increased the average American's awareness as to the nuances of the various roles the government could play in the healthcare system, helping make the generic "make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage" sound less appealing. Plus, the current debate may have produced more skepticism among Americans that the government's role in healthcare could or should be this broad
Ed Morrissey at Hot Air points out Democrats in Washington have failed to detect the ground shifting beneath their feet:
Three years ago, the Democratic point of view fell firmly in the mainstream. Now it’s the fringe, but the Democrats in the Beltway haven’t noticed that the ground has changed under their feet. A 44-point swing in three years is a sea change, one that will drown the Democrats next year if they try to shove ObamaCare and its mandates down our throats.
This poll completely refutes the conventional "wisdom" in Washington that passing health care will save Democrats in the coming midterm elections. Bill Clinton paid a visit to the Senate as a reminder what happens when a Democratic majority fails to pass health care. It's too bad they can't send Napoleon to the Senate as a reminder of what will happen if they do pass health care.
Karl has a great post promoted from the Green Room to the front page at Hot Air. Be sure to read the post but the main point is one that can't be missed. Despite some pretty uplifting news for those opposed to ObamaCare recently, the fight is far from over. Karl concludes:
The Democrats may be struggling today, but their current attempt to take over our healthcare system is far from meeting its Waterloo. Stop thinking ABBA. Start thinking The Carpenters.
So without further ado, the video of the day can only be:
Today's health care inspired video comes from Senator Jim DeMint, who inspired yesterday's choice "Waterloo" by ABBA. In a statement to the Washington Examiner's Amanda Carpenter, Senator DeMint acknowledges the truth behind Obama's decision to make his Waterloo comment central in his health care reform campaign:
"The biggest obstacles to President Obama’s $2 trillion government takeover of health care are Democrats, the American people, and the facts,” he said in a statement provided by his office to the Washington Times. “And after the failed stimulus that wasted money as millions of jobs have been lost, many Democrats know their constituents won't be fooled again."
Naturally, the health care musical tribute of the day is ............. (drum roll)
Well polls are crashing all around Obama and the August recess creeps ever-closer threatening the passage of a Healthcare Reform before the House and Senate skip town for vacation after voting for yet another bill they refuse to read. Still Obama refuses to surrender and rather than make his case to the American people or explain significant aspect of his plan, Obama chooses to fight a straw man in Senator DeMint's comment that healthcare could be Obama's Waterloo. To be fair, it would be hard for him to explain the proposed reform since no one seems to agree what that might look like. Hot Air has Senator DeMint's response to Obama which pretty much calls Obama's reform and sales pitch for the Bull it is.
Bill Kristol mentioned tonight DeMint's comment was a mistake, noting the old adage, "when the opposition is busy digging a hole, get out of their way and let them keep digging. He has a point, though it was enjoyable to see DeMint spell it all out, we haven't seen too much of that from the GOP lately. So I have had the Abba song stuck in my head all day and thought I would pass that along for your enjoyment.
