There is a large segment of the blogosphere that has been arguing behind the scenes against showing any receptivity to compromise on health care, even in the analysis we do, because they think we have have the Republicans and the Blue Dogs on the ropes. Why make any concessions at all, if we can get everything we want?
This, of course, means that they aren’t doing honest analysis, but what I’d call ‘advocacy-analysis.’ Essentially, they are going to tell you a proposed compromise is bad because they don’t want you to even consider any possible merits. They want you out there asking for the whole pie. This is the mirror image of the Republican strategy of talking about socialism and death panels, rather than about the nitty-gritty of the legislative process. The GOP wants their base to reject reform wholesale. This element of the progressive blogosphere wants you to reject compromise wholesale. Both strategies have a lot of merit, but I don’t want you to be deceived. Bad analysis is bad analysis. It may be true that the best negotiating stance is to ask for everything and concede nothing until it is absolutely necessary. But if you want to know what is a good or bad compromise, they aren’t going to be very helpful.
You saw this split in the blogosphere during this week, when reactions to a proposed state opt-out compromise came in two forms. There were those that made alarmist and inaccurate analyses, and those that gave you a careful look, weighing the pros and cons.
I’ve begun to wonder whether there might be a different kind of victory in the offing from anything we’ve been anticipating. As Obama noted today in his radio address, former Senate majority leaders Bob Dole and Bill Frist have come out in favor of reform, without making too many conditions about details. Former Republican Secretaries of Health & Human Services Tommy Thompson and Louis Sullivan have done the same. We’ve been operating under the assumption that Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have constructed a formidable and unbreachable Fortress of No. We’ve assumed that there are no Republican votes for reform to be had. But maybe this Fortress of No is really built out of sand. Maybe there is a wave coming in that is about to deluge the Republicans’ face of total opposition.
Here are the questions I have for you. Is this a possibility? And, if it is, what concessions would be acceptable to help see that it happens? What are the long-term benefits, not only for health care policy, but for our whole legislative agenda, if Obama cracks the Fortress and breaks down the wall of opposition?
