I give the President points for holding his own health care town hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire today. The question is, how will it be handled? Will it be a Bush-style town hall where all opposition protesters will shunted to "free-speech zones" a half a mile away? Or will Obama take some real questions from the crowd and really stick it to the Town Hall Blitzers in a fair fight?
Lack of plan specifics so far does limit the President's arsenal, and that's nobody's fault but his own. However, there are still plenty of pernicious falsehoods about "death panels" and the cost of the program itself out there that the President needs to shoot down, and it gives the President yet another opportunity to seize the narrative by telling the folks of Portsmouth the specifics he wants in a bill, like saying a public option is a must-have, for example.
It would be the smart thing to do here to go on the offensive. Obama's got to show he's behind a robust health care reform bill and stop with the trial balloons and placation of the Republicans. My five-minute Rahmbo advice? Admit some protesters. Take some questions from them. Tell them and America the truth, and make them look foolish. If they insist on screaming and drowning out the President and calling the President a tyrant and a liar over the effort to get all Americans access to affordable health care, let them embarrass the movement. Let them look like crackpots.
Then take them down with facts. America's ready for a real discussion, but the only way to get it apparently is to fight for one. The other side has no intention of allowing the facts to come out. Take the facts to them, instead.
Bush would never do anything like that. It's time for Obama to do it instead.
They're too smart. I'm sure opponents will be allowed in, but the ones who are won't try to shout him down. Smart, slick people are telling the protesters what to do, and the protesters trust them -- and I guarantee they're being told to pipe down in the meeting itself.
ReplyDeleteThere'll probably be something raucous going on outside -- and so the post-town-hall spin will be that the Goebbelses in the Obama White House picked a few phony opponents and didn't let the "real" opponents speak.
Maybe they are.
ReplyDeleteI'd still like Obama to take some questions and address some of these crazy falsehoods, but the derangement factor is pretty high over this. Somebody might slip up.
But even more, I'd like to see Obama outline specifics, take control of the story, and then make a push at getting those specifics into legislation.
Reacting, rather than acting, will not win him this battle.
You're losing.
ReplyDeletehttp://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/08/57-against-obamacare-single-payer.html
"Medicare is broke. Medicaid is broke. Social Security is broke. And your trying to tell me that a government that can't run a cash for clunkers program is going to run 1/7th of the US economy?"
Obama's town hall meetings will not pacify those who are opposed to ObamaCare, based on costs. The people are open to insurance reform, not a government takeover of the healthcare system, something the White House recognized by changing the debate about healthcare reform to health insurance reform.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is the legislation, and Obama should be smart enough to know that to change legislation, you consult with members of Congress, not the electorate.
I'm hoping things are civil and focused today. If not, I offer the Town Hall Drinking Game. You may not be able to play today ... but it should be good for the rest of August!
ReplyDeleteRepublicans in Congress have a vested interest in ignoring the President and killing the legislation.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, more than a few Democrats have the same vested interest. Taking it to the people may be his only choice, Doc.
And Medicare works pretty well for a hopelessly broken government run health care program, yes?
Medicare works pretty well if you don't care that it will bankrupt us even without the $1.8+ Trillion dollar deficit being foisted on us.
ReplyDeleteThat's enormous debt and deficits before nationalizing healthcare.
Ben Cardin tried propping up MediCare as an example of how gubment can make things cheaper and more efficient, but it didn't work.
ReplyDeleteObama plans to cut MediCare by $500Billion to pay for ObamaCare, and in its current state, many doctors will not accept new patients under Medicare because of its poor record in compensating providers.
I've just heard that Obama's town hall just completed. He entertained questions from skeptics, but he spun his way out of them...Obama, same as Bush...hehe!