Playing to Lose?
Why would Harry Reid include a public option in his bill, knowing that Olympia Snowe was very much against it, and Joe Lieberman had vowed to filibuster it?
Either Reid is the worst vote counter in the world, or there’s something else at work…
Does Harry Reid want to lose on Obamacare?
There is no other explanation for pushing a bill that he knows cannot be passed.
There are reasons for Reid to want to lose. Passing Obamacare would probably cost Democrats quite severely in the 2010 elections. It would probably cost Reid his Senate seat.
Losing, on the other hand, can be downright heroic. Reid could pretend to make the best effort possible, making the pragmatic White House and principled liberals all happy at the same time. When he loses, he’ll still be a hero to the leftists he’ll need in his 2010 re-election campaign.
I can’t think of any other rational explanation. Can you? Click Comments and discuss.
Subscribe to blog feed.
October 27th, 2009 at 11:45 am
I can’t think of any other rational explanation. Can you? POLI
Very simple, A. he isn’t rational,B He has the votes.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
The Democrats’ strategy on Healthcare Reform:
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/10/26/13159/249
October 27th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Lieberman’s posturing – he’s not representing Connecticut (they want a public option); he’s representing Tel Aviv. He could care less about domesitc issues – he’s about foreign policy – specifically Israel. Right now, he want’s the White House to back off on the West Bank and lose the hard line on Israel. Both Reid and Obama know this – and Reid knows he’s not the one Lieberman’s looking to deal with. It’s the O Show, and O’s been laying the groundwork for this since election day. Expect some one-on-one sessions with Lieberman, and volia – cloture. The fix has been in for a public option since day one – Baucus and the other blue dogs were playing everybody for suckers, they just had to make it look good (to keep the progressives fired up and to wear down the republicans). O, Reid, and Pelosi look like masters of the long game…
October 27th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Racist!
October 27th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Why would anyone expect a raving leftist loon like Reid to be “rational”?
I suspect he’s ultimately counting on the likes of Graham and McCain to “come to the rescue” of “bipartisanship” and be the “mavericks” that cave and vote for Obamacare.
October 27th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
By the way, MikeyW, I’m FROM Connecticut and I can tell you the only “they” that support it are either the megarich that live in Westport and send their kids up north to the Hotchkiss School, or of course the huge illegal populations of New Haven, Bridgeport, and Hartford.
I don’t have much use for either of those groups. The former will ALWAYS get the 24 carat care they would deny the rest of us, prescribing sub-welfare care for the unwashed masses. The latter shouldn’t be here to begin with, so who frankly cares what they want?
October 27th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
The Statist’s Ten Commandments
http://www.jeffersonsrebels.blogspot.com
October 27th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
CoolCzech,
Just curious, do you really enjoy paying twice as much for healthcare as the rest of the industrialized nations? Do you like the fact that it is only mediocre? Do you like the idea that you’ll only have health insurance if you have a job? Do you like the fact that your insurer can drop you if you get sick? Do you like the idea that you can be denied insurance because of arbitrary pre-conditions? Do you like the fact that your healthcare insurance costs have gone up faster than your raises over the last 15 yrs? You may have insurance now, but what about a couple of years from now when employers decide it’s too expensive to contribute to it? Have you ever had to pay COBRA?
October 27th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Potter – you birthers crack me up. Logic so twisted and strained it must hurt to talk. Get over it – you’re missing life.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:20 am
“O, Reid, and Pelosi look like masters of the long game…”
.
.
.
.
BWAHAHAHAHA!!
Reid’s “long game” will end in 12 months.
Your messiah’s on course to have his “long game” end in 36 months.
And the leftist kooks who elect Pelosi are subject to elect somebody even KOOKIER if they take a notion.
You best take a look at what the mainstream thinks about all this, troll. And take a look at those VA election results, in 6 days. That’s the game that matters, to the greasy politicians running for reelection. They know what the mainstream is thinking, even if you kooks don’t.
October 28th, 2009 at 11:15 am
“Your messiah’s on course to have his “long game” end in 36 months.” – Why do you insist on calling Obama that? I think the term you’re searching for is “President of the United States”. You’re the only person that keeps do that (I guess that’s why you’re fringe).
“You best take a look at what the mainstream thinks about all this, troll.” – Maybe you should pull your head out of your ass and check the data – Ameica wants a Public Option. You want to keep whining, go right ahead – people are sick of being screwed by the insurance companies. We get it – you like getting screwed (no surprise there). We’ll, with the opt out you can keep getting screwed to your heart’s content.
“And take a look at those VA election results, in 6 days” – There are a lot of elections coming up. Why is it that the only one that you think is “defining” is the one that the republican is favored to win. You sound like a fool. Check the polls – the majority DO NOT think the outcome of this election is a referendom on Obama. More wishful thinking from the wilderness. Chew on some more tree bark while you’re out there watching the country go by.
October 28th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Some pundits believe the opposite, that loss of blue dog seats will be due to not passing a health care bill. In fact, unless I misunderstand his premise, Schrum believes the 1994 landslide was due to blue dog abandonment of the Clinton health care plan.
Amazing.
October 29th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Oh yeah, the VA election is a referendum on your messiah, lefty troll. We can tell, because you lefty kooks are yelping so hard that it’s not.
5 more days, and we in the mainstream begin setting you lefty kooks straight. Get used to it, because 2010 it gets even STRAIGHTER.