God help me, I was watching Countdown with Keith Olbermann tonight (hosted by Lawrence O’Donnell), and Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) was a guest. O’Donnell told her that the Republicans are threatening to bash Democratic House members in the upcoming elections if they vote for the Senate bill which includes the vastly unpopular ‘Louisiana Purchase’ and ‘Cornhusker Compromise.’ Woolsey’s response was that the American people are smart. According to her, they are smart enough to notice when a politician votes for something in one bill and then turns around and votes to eliminate it in the next. This was a reference to the much anticipated sidecar budget reconciliation bill that will somehow accompany the Senate bill through the House. It is in the sidecar that unpopular measures like the ‘Louisiana Purchase’ and ‘Cornhusker Compromise’ will be stripped out.
Somehow this exchange between O’Donnell and Woolsey crystalized something I’ve been trying to communicate to Democrats for years. That is, you cannot avoid Republican attacks by ducking tough votes because they will accuse of being a wacko socialist no matter what you do. Barack Obama has cut taxes on 95% of all Americans, and he hasn’t yet raised taxes on the other five percent. The top 5% will only see their taxes raised in 2011 when the Bush tax cuts for top earners are allowed to sunset. Yet, the Republicans are going around the country saying that Obama has raised taxes and will continue to do so. He might as well have raised taxes on the highest earners since most people think he already has.
The health care situation is an interesting case. It would be an inverse of John Kerry’s 2003 war-funding vote: Democrats will vote against it after they vote for it. First they will vote for the Senate bill that includes the ‘Louisiana Purchase’ and ‘Cornhusker Compromise’ and then they will strip those provisions out in the sidecar budget reconciliation bill. The Republicans will then accuse Democrats of having voted for the unpopular measures. The Democrats who fear this, fear it because it will be technically true. They think they’d avoid being accused of being a corrupt socialist if they just anticipated the attack line and avoided taking the first vote. They know the American people are collectively stupid enough that they can be tarred as a flip-flopper and a supporter of sordid backroom deals.
But, the problem is deeper than how a strategic vote can be distorted. The chances are that candidates for office will be accused of voting for backroom deals even if they don’t vote for the Senate bill. The error is in thinking that the Republicans stick to making distorted attacks that have at least a grain of truth them. But, they don’t, as the attacks on Obama’s tax-raising should make clear.
The Republicans are bullies. If you punch them in the nose, they will back down. Otherwise, there are no rules they respect, in debate, campaigns, or on the law books.
