Winds Can Shift Pretty Quickly

[babylonsister]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_03/023006.php

WINDS CAN SHIFT PRETTY QUICKLY.... Greg Sargent summarizes the post-Sunday political landscape nicely:

The conventional wisdom inside the Beltway, which had for so long held that Dems were courting political disaster if they passed reform, has suddenly swung violently in the other direction -- another reminder that when you win, people view you as, well, a winner.

And this is what many proponents of health care reform have been suggesting for months -- give success a chance, and the political winds can turn in the other direction.

Mike Allen, who does as much as anyone in the media to reflect (and help shape) the conventional wisdom, suggests today that a historic victory on health care reform may make Scott Brown's victory in January "look like a speed bump." At least for now, Allen noted, "Rather than dragging down Dems, President Obama's health plan could turn out to be a net positive for the midterms by goosing his base, re-engaging new Obama voters, giving his party something clear to promote, and providing a blunt instrument for whacking {Republicans}. Obama's triumph has put Republicans back on the defensive, and even some of them are wondering if they peaked eight months too soon."

Also today, we're seeing stories about Democratic hopes for the midterms rebounding, and Republicans facing risks as a result of their health care tactics.

These, obviously, are the kind of news stories Democrats were counting on.

It's worth remembering, it's far too soon to understand the political implications of this new milestone. Indeed, the work on health care isn't even completely done quite yet. Predicting public attitudes over the next eight days and/or eight months is challenging, to put it mildly.

But as we've been saying all along, Democrats needed to not only deliver on their top domestic policy priority, but they also needed to give themselves a fighting chance. As the shifting political winds indicate, it's easier to build on a victory than on failure.

—Steve Benen

[BridgeTheGap]

1. Which is exactly why the repubs fought it tooth and nail. If this works out as planned, it will

reveal them as the idiots they really are.

[Lerkfish]

2. well, ok, but we the majority in both houses and the presidency, just how much more favorable

do we need our winds to be before sailing ahead?

[babylonsister]

4. Seems like we just had Exhibit A of sailing ahead, w/o any help. nt

[Lerkfish]

5. sure took us a long time to realize we didn't need them, didn't it?

after we already reshaped the bill to their liking.

my point is we don't NEED a wind shift.

[babylonsister]

7. Your point is that nothing will make you happy. On today of all days,

when HCR becomes a reality (and yes, I know, a lot of work still needs to be done on it), you continue to complain.

Guess what? I'm a happy camper and a proud Dem today. :fistbump:

[Lerkfish]

9. you completely misunderstand my point, maybe intentionally

try rereading my posts again... but just to be more clear, I'll spell it out for you.

I'm not complaining about the bill itself, really, at this point. I'm complaining that bending over backwards for the republicans was pointless since we are more than capable of passing things without them.

I'm suggesting we don't need the wind to change, we own the wind with majorities in both houses and the presidency. We should sail ahead and govern as we wish.

that's not a complaint, that's opening up permission to ignore the republicans completely.

I'm also a proud Dem, and always have been.

retract your claws, I was making a different point that you took.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. K & R

I hope this strengthens the resolve of those who have been so disappointed these past few months. May the trolls see the futility of their disinformation campaign and either quit or just flame out; either way is fine with me.

[Jennicut]

6. Much easier to build on victory then failure. Killing the bill would have been a

total disaster. The new Gallup/USA today poll showed 48% of people polled want Dems to keep improving the bill. Killing the bill would have cost us big time.

[Cha]

8. Indeed they can..and it's always gratifying

when they shifted through relentlessly hard work.. for a goal to actually get a HRC Bill passed that will be an excellent start for the American Peeps!:fistbump: