The President's speech got rave reviews in our household, but then again, Bridget and I are totally in the tank for Barack. In particular, I liked that: he laid out the key provisions that he'd like to see clearly, without being too wonky; he reminded many Repugs that they were for a lot of these provisions before they were against them (I thought McCain's "F-you for reminding the American people about that" smile told a lot); and he all but said that he'd do this without Repug support. Pretty much what I wanted to see.
But, how did it go over with everyone else? CNN posted a promising poll on this. They cite a 14-point rise in support for the plan among those who watched the speech. That's great. I just hope enough people watched.
Of course, the key question remains whether the Dems will be able to get the votes to achieve cloture. Salon has a good summary of some key players' reactions. Sadly, it shows that the Blue Dogs remain noncommital and Olympia Snowe insists she's still against a public option. Even if they get all of the "moderate" Dem senators, without Kennedy's vote, it seems like they have to get at least one GOPer. Snowe seems the likeliest target, and if she's unmoved, there's still a lot to be done.
2 comments:
You lie!!!
Sorry, I'm just trendy.
It wouldn't surprise me if the public option becomes something that isn't inherent in whatever passes, but instead is a piece to be added via some sort of 'trigger.' To wit: If, by 2012, there are still x% of people unable to procure insurance, then it gets added. That will allow the bill to pass now (hopefully).
Of course, the idea of a mandate that everyone must have insurance (which I agree with) without a public option is a big sloppy kiss on the mouth for the mdical insurance industry, and that makes me want to puke.
You lie! (ooops. Still trendy!)
One more thing on the polls Dave mentioned, and this is really good news if at all representative (and I strongly believe it is). BTW, all sorts of talking heads on both sides said a speech couldn't change things. Poor silly kids, did they forget who was writing and delivering said speech?
"Democracy Corps conducted dial testing of the speech with 50 independent and weak partisan voters in Denver, Colorado, followed by focus groups with voters whose support for Obama's health care plan increased after seeing the speech. The dial group participants were evenly divided among those who initially supported and initially opposed the plan, with an almost equal division between Obama and McCain voters.
These swing voters reacted strongly to Obama's message. Support for Obama's plan jumped 20 points, from 46 percent before the speech to 66 percent after. Importantly, Obama also achieved one of his principal goals of boosting the intensity of support. Prior to the speech, just 2 percent of these swing voters supported the plan strongly while 26 percent opposed it strongly; by the end of the evening those numbers were virtually reversed, with 28 percent supporting the plan strongly against just 8 percent strongly opposed. The president was also extremely successful in moving the needle on areas where progressives have struggled over the last few months, making great strides in reassuring voters on issues like the deficits and taxes, seniors and Medicare, choice and control, competition and costs, and government intervention."
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