"It’s a pity that Obama is only good at strong arming Democrats..."

[Karmadillo]

http://www.ianwelsh.net/obama-flexes-his-muscle/#comments

And Kucinich caves and agrees to vote on HCR. Kucinich’s email is a piece of work:

I know I have to make a decision, not on the bill as I would like to see it, but the bill as it is. My criticisms of the legislation have been well reported. I do not retract them. I incorporate them in this statement. They still stand as legitimate and cautionary. I still have doubts about the bill. I do not think it is a first step toward anything I have supported in the past. This is not the bill I wanted to support, even as I continue efforts until the last minute to modify the bill.

Basically, he seems to have gotten nothing for his vote. Nothing. And he can’t even find a good reason to vote for it.

Obama is proving, again, that he is very good at arm bending. What I am hearing is that threats are being made to cut off all Democratic party support for many Reps who vote against the bill. Some blue dogs will be allowed to vote against, but progressives as a group, and even some conservative Dems are expected to bite the bullet, vote for the bill, and suck up the consequences.

This is the moment when Obama flexes his muscle, proves he has control of the party, and that he will use that control against those who stand in his way. It’s what he has to do, and progressives should take note, because this sort of hardball politics is what they’ll have to do if they ever get in power.

This is the second time Obama has really bent arms. The first time was the bailout bill, before he was even president, which would not have passed without his intervention, an intervention which I have been told was extremely heavy handed.

It’s a pity that Obama is only good at strong arming Democrats, prefers to strong-arm progressives instead of conservative democrats, strong arms for conservative bills which are giveaways to corporate interests and appears completely incapable of playing any sort of hardball with Republicans, but this is the President that Democrats wanted.

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[Edweird]

1. That's because you don't play 'harball' with your allies.

[LaydeeBug]

4. I'm sorry, but are you saying Obama is allies with the Republicans? I take offense to that

and I am NOT one who supported him in the primaries, either.

[Political Heretic]

5. Reality is often offensive. Though I'd make on adjustment to his statement:

Though I would suggest its not the Republican party but rather the corporate stakeholders that many republicans, and Obama, and many Democrats, owe their primary loyalty to.

[Edweird]

6. Hey, he excluded what the left wanted while insisting on including 'republican ideas'.

Do you dispute that?

[Fumesucker]

2. Obama strong arms the liberals, not the blue dogs..

Other than that I agree..

[treestar]

3. Trying to get the cats to herd

The Republicans will not respond to any "strong arming." They are trying to get in the way, period. It is getting the herd of cats known as Democrats to work together that is hard. If you want all Democratic administrations to get nothing done whatsoever, by all means, assert they should waste time attempting to get Republicans to go along.

Yet Obama has the nerve to try that, but even so, it's like talking to a brick wall.

But Democrats who are not in line might see reason.

[Edweird]

7. I'm not aware of any republicans voting for this. Are there?