Because our national media (including many of the few progressive commentators) are basically retarded and can’t read a poll the narrative in Washington now goes like this:
Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) on Tuesday said a partisan approach to health reform this fall would “wreck our healthcare system and wreck the Democratic Party,” raising the stakes of a go-it-alone strategy that Democratic leaders are considering.
At 59 votes with the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy (Mass.), Democrats have said they will consider the use of a legislative tactic called reconciliation that could allow chunks of health reform legislation to be passed with a simple majority of 51 votes, instead of the 60 that normally would be required to overcome procedural obstacles.
Alexander said that town hall meetings last month demonstrated most Americans are opposed to reform and that Democrats should heed the message.
Well, it’s true that Lamar Alexander said that most Americans are opposed to reform, but it isn’t remotely accurate. What is accurate is that Obama’s approval numbers have come down over the last couple of months. Most of that deterioration has come from liberals who are no longer willing to give pollsters the thumb’s up while Congress is twiddling their thumbs on health care reform. Obama ran on a platform of universal health coverage with a public option. Liberals expect him to deliver, not compromise with some watered down bill that doesn’t cover people for a decade and doesn’t address the budget deficit.
Americans support these reforms in large numbers, as every reputable polling outfit attests. But, really, do you think Lamar Alexander would warn us if he truly thought we were on a course to wreck the Democratic Party and hand control of the Senate back to the Republicans? Really?
Maybe people could report some skepticism about the ridiculous things he says?
I am one of the people – an apparent minority – who is not at all concerned about Obama’s declining numbers; my view is that he will immediately experience a rebound once a health care bill is passed (even if it is a mediocre one), at which point much of the misinformation will die.
But I’m not sure you’re right that his loss of support has come principally from the left. My impression is that he has lost some enthusiasm from the left, but lost actual support across the board.
Actually it’s about half lefties and half indies–both probably for the same reason: Obama allowed Congress to do something on it’s own when Congress clearly isn’t capable of anything.
I think Obama is trying to teach congress to do something on its own (something about restoring balance of powers). and this is a no-brainer because the voters support strong public option, the blogosphere is going all out, and it’s a life and death issue that affects everyone. lots of difficult issues ahead of us, hoping congress learns something for the road ahead. – maybe I’m wrong though and O is incompetent and weak.
you just nailed it.
Hunter at dailykos had as much to say last week on this very topic:
The corporate media insists on remaining a willing partner in the development and dissemination of Republican talking points. The funny thing is that even with all the cheerleading for those talking points, the general public seems less than impressed.
The GOP crazy circus is bathed in noon day sun and it’s quite a show. People aren’t as forgiving as the media towards all the ugliness and in fact I’d venture to say that the most common reaction is out and out revulsion. Don’t tell the GOP, they think they’re winning something.
I talked to my crazy racist brother yesterday and he thinks Obama’s poll numbers go down, “every time he hogs prime time with his arrogant, know-it-all attitude. What an asshole!” See? He was happy when we had a president who couldn’t form whole sentences or rational thoughts. An intelligent, logical president with a dark complexion really pisses him off. LOL!
Of course, his only sources of news are his local broadcast Fox station and ditto-head talk radio. So even if the Washington Post and the New York Times devoted their front pages to refuting Republican lies for the next month, he’d never know. He would, instead, be even more panicked about the “imminent economic collapse of America” and “darkies in pimp-mobiles coming up outta the city to kill me for my jar of quarters.”
Lamar is talking to his base who have trapped themselves inside nightmarish fantasies and there’s no point in debating with crazy people.
well…that’s a depressing picture you paint right there.
Imagine how I felt during the Bush years when I was afraid a majority of voters thought the way he does. Fortunately, he — and many others like him — don’t vote. He’s too paranoid about the guv’ment to let them know where he lives. But, we do still have cause to fear his kind of insanity. He’s a fear-full, angry stick of dynamite waiting for a spark…
Tiffany’s, Elvira’s eyewear?????
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also … glasses and 4pss1887.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."if they want to advertise here, Boo should at least be getting some $$ from them
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WASHINGTON – Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest drug maker, will pay a record $2.3 billion civil and criminal penalty over unlawful prescription drug promotions.
To promote the drugs, authorities said Pfizer invited doctors to consultant meetings at resort locations, paying their expenses and providing perks. “They were entertained with golf, massages, and other activities,” said Mike Loucks, the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts.
UBS to release names Swiss accounts to IRS
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."good!
Thank you Booman. One has to read blogs to be aware of this critical and basic fact about the health care debate: America takes the left position in this “debate”, despite the outsized megaphone given to the right and it is lefties that are becoming disillusioned. The media and most of the political class will happily pretend this reality does not exist and that the teabagger right is representative of America.
The reality is 50 million Americans without health insurance don’t care about some philosophical and nonsensical debate about capitalism vs. socialism vs. fascism with a healthy dose of teabagging thrown in.
What Americans really want is a fairer, simpler, and more affordable health care system. The clowns in the media and the leaders of the parties have concocted this freak show as a pretext to avoid change and serve their corporate masters.
And now that Obama appears to be jumping on board with this fake story, look for it to become indisputable fact. Wait, didn’t ya hear? Anony Source told Politico that the WH is itching for a fight with the hippies to put them in their place, and just like Clinton, the right-wing will surely appreciate Obama’s reasonableness and bipartisanship. Surely he and his fellow centrists will join forces with the right-wing and get great things done for America during the next 3 years. I can’t wait to see what fake reality is in store for us.