In Which Zandar Finally Notices He Made HuffPo, Kinda

Yeah, I have to pay attention more to my trackbacks I suppose.

HuffPo's Peter Daou took me to task for my "boots on the ground" post back on Tuesday, and I um...kinda had no clue he did that until I checked my logs for the week. (Turns out he did it on July 29 too, and he agreed with me then.)

Ahem. Anyway, I advocated Obama going into campaign mode to get the message out on health care reform. Peter Daou disagreed, and gave five reasons why this wasn't a campaign-style moment:

1. The media and punditocracy have a different agenda.
2. Obama's much-talked about online 'army' of 13 million people doesn't exist.
3. Republicans and conservatives have far less to lose.
4. Inside baseball is less effective when you're on the inside.
5. The netroots, excited and energized by the prospect of an Obama presidency, are disillusioned.

Numbers 1 and 2 I agree with completely. The Village is behind the GOP, and the Obama campaign machine can only do so much now that they are in the White House.

Number 3 is incorrect for the reasons I gave in the post. Both sides have a lot to lose here. Failure to pass health care reform will cost the Democrats dearly in the short term. However, passage of a real health care reform bill that works would crush the Republicans for what, 20, 30 years? I believe the Republicans are fighting harder because they actually have a lot more to lose. Progressive Democrats could use a robust health care reform bill as a linchpin to fundamentally remake the government away from the Reagan/Bush model that has driven the federal government since 1980. Republicans see this as an existential, fundamental battle here. They are willing to put everything, and I mean everything on the line They have gone all in with their chips here. Losing is absolutely not an option for them.

Number 4 goes back to point 1 more than anything. Inside baseball takes two to play, the politicos and the Village. If the Village wants to score the game their way due to point 1, there's little to be done, short of irritating the hell out of them by, say, calling on HuffPo's Nico Pitney at a press conference.

Number 5, on Tuesday, I would have agreed with Daou. Today, I think that disillusionment is beginning to turn into anger at seeing what the other side is still quite capable of. I have my critiques of Obama's policies, but the last two days especially has reminded me exactly why I voted for him in the first place.

However, Daou is correct when he says that:

As Democrats fight for a signature issue, a serious strategic blunder has left them scrambling to catch up with their opponents. The White House should have laid out clear, unwavering objectives, a solid plan, rather than leave the health debate to meander through Congress. That vacuum has enabled the proponents of the status quo to marshal their forces.

Perhaps resorting to campaign tactics will turn the tide, I certainly hope so, but it bears acknowledging that the landscape has changed.

It has changed, and become an uphill battle most certainly.