Does Mr. Obama need a big contrarian move to turn this thing around?
If Mr. Mcullough’s analysis is at all on target, Mr. Obama and the current Washington crew need to do something (different), and fast. I think he needs something big. A big, against the grain type tack. So here’s what I suggest (are you listening Mr. President?):
Buy some air time - interrupt something big like the first Monday Night Football game…ok bad idea. Get on the air, over Labor Day when people are about to watch the fireworks and are feeling all patriotic. Talk up the segment, but keep it brief- 15 minutes. Tell the American public that you had an epiphany while imbibing the salty sea air on Cape Cod. Tell them, that you’re taking over as captain of this ship and you’re going to turn this around. Then do the incredible: go in the complete opposite direction that you and your supporters have been proposing. First, demand a bill that is no more than 100 pages (preferably 10, but hey, let’s not get greedy). Signal to the public that you get it, and are ready to truly simplify. The American people know you can do this in less than a War and Peace size tome and would, in fact, respect you for it. In keeping with simplicity, do only a few concrete things. Heck, take my 3 points (they aren’t really even mine, I just borrowed them and wrote then in a thinly followed blog). Don’t build a giant new program. Americans are scared and pretty friggin’ angry. If the economy slides again (can you say commercial real estate bubble?), they will be running for the hills. Get rid of some of the barriers that already exist: put individuals on the same playing field as corporations as purchasers of insurance. Bust down the state sponsored insurance monopolies by legalizing insurance across state lines. If you do these things and the “markets” fail for real- then hey, at least we really tried and now you have a case against the market. Let doctors deduct charity care. They will run through brick walls for you and they will beat each other to the door to treat the indigent.
Risk political suicide. No public option? No worries. Take a gamble. You may lose some in your party, but you would have won over (and back) the hearts of millions of Americans. Think of it as stealing conservative/Republican voters. The Republicans are weak, you could kill them off with “their” ideas. Tell the people you are going to put these ideas into law for 2 years. Run the experiment- America is the greatest experiment in the world. If you go in the direction you are going, you will assuredly lose the iron grip the Democrats have on Congress in 2010. So cut them off at the pass. If you implement the other team’s ideas and they work, you take all the credit and win big again in 2012. If the plan is failing by 2011, you scrap the whole deal and bolster your case for single payer care. Show them you are no George Bush. Americans lost faith in Bush when the WMD scare fizzled under weak evidence. Show that you are who you said that you were: someone who examines the evidence and can change his mind. Do it and you may truly be the most revolutionary president we’ve seen. Don’t do it? Well….
