There is a lot of rumbling from ‘centrist’ Democrats in both the House and Senate who are upset with the prospect of passing health care reforms similar to what Barack Obama spent all of 2007 and 2008 running on. But, what’s unusual is that the Democratic National Committee and it’s subgroup Organizing for America are running television and radio ads in these ‘centrists’ home states and districts. Harry Reid says it is a waste of money to run advertisements against Democrats, but then it’s his job as majority leader to defend his caucus members. I don’t begrudge him that. He basically has to say that. In reality, those ads are going to help him accomplish his goal and I hope he secretly welcomes them.
A lot of the time, I feel like the powers-that-be in the Democratic Party make promises to us that they are only too happy to break with the excuse that they don’t have enough members of Congress to carry them out. This time looks different. It isn’t pleasant to see infighting, but the willingness by Obama to use the DNC as a weapon against dues-paying Democrats is a welcome change. He wouldn’t be doing that if he wasn’t serious about enacting health care reform with a public option.
I don’t know if he will succeed, but I give him credit for giving it an honest and authentic try.
