Obama brought the good stuff tonight, the pure stuff, the uncut stuff. All summer long, everyone forgot about That Obama. He’s been looking like Technocrat Obama; quiet, studious, subdued and somewhat aimless. And then he comes off the ropes like Ali again with that glint in his eye. Chuck Grassley, you just got p0wned.
We’ve been slowly giving in to despair and misgivings. Is the Obama White House really that tone-deaf and rudderless? Are they really going to let the crazies take over the discourse? Tonight we saw what we had been hoping was behind it all for months, the Obama strategy that we all secretly thought was there. The canny genius of the rope-a-dope of the Republicans all summer long, followed by the flurry of punches and then… the ten count and party time.
The dirty secret here that those central to the battle on both sides know but don’t tell is simple: This isn’t about the details of the plan – those matter a lot, but they are are to one extent or another negotiable – what this is about is enshrining in US law the idea that all Americans shall have access to essential health care. Once that is done, there will be no rolling it back. That is why the Republicans are fighting so hard. They know that if they lose this, they lose it forever. You can’t take it back any more than you can take back child labor laws, Social Security or the Civil Rights Act.
And Obama knows this, he’s always known it. Which is why he’s been basically agnostic about the various plans that the various committees have been tossing about. All summer long he has let the Republicans crawl waaay out on the crazy branch. But tonight he drew out the saw and set its teeth in a groove. I figure that any Republicans with a sense of self-preservation have about three weeks to crawl back in before the whole thing crashes down.
Tonight was just the beginning. Now, if he is who I think he is, the serious ball-busting and arm twisting begins. Those on the other side who think he doesn’t have it in him always seem to forget that my man is from Chi-Ca-Go. Barack himself may not be a brawler but he doesn’t need to be, that’s not his thing. He gets to do what good leaders do; remain above the fray, play the conciliator and binder of wounds. But, make no mistake Axe, Rahm et. al have enough bad-ass ward heeling, arm twisting, ball-busting skills to put LBJ to shame.
Obama has put his entire presidency on the line on this issue. The speech was masterful and has done what it needed to do, re-set the political narrative of the last two months for the tough sausage-making that lies ahead. If they pull this off, lines like this will go down in history.
[Our predecessors] knew that when any government measure, no matter how carefully crafted or beneficial, is subject to scorn; when any efforts to help people in need are attacked as un-American; when facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom, and we can no longer even engage in a civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter – that at that point we don’t merely lose our capacity to solve big challenges. We lose something essential about ourselves.
So now the endgame begins.
I’d like think that there are a handful of Republicans who are astute enough to see the handwriting on the wall and to get on board with what I sincerely hope will be one of the signature accomplishments of American politics. As for the rest… well, we know how this story ends.
