Hey it’s always an indication that things are going well when undecided congressmen choose to skip a rally being attended by the president of the United States:
Representative John Boccieri, Democrat of Ohio, whose vote on major health care legislation could be crucial to the outcome, will not be attending President Obama’s health care rally on Monday in Strongsville, Ohio, not far from Mr. Boccieri’s own district, a spokeswoman said.
Sure it’s all about another project nothing to do with healthcare. And like the fully armed nuclear missiles coming from the planet Magrathea toward the ship Heart of gold, the thousands of protesters waiting to greet the president as mentioned by Michelle Malkin in this post are a special courtesy that is extended to every president who is about to successfully persuade members of his own party to pass an unpopular bill through congress at the risk of their seats.
It’s like watching a disaster movie in slow motion.
As of today (March 15), my total hits this year have surpassed my total hits for the entire previous year.
There are a lot of people to thank for this, most notability Robert Stacy McCain whose support really put me on the map, to Glenn Reynolds who has been kind enough to instalanche me on a monthly basis this year and the various people who have allowed me to interview them over the last two months.
But the greatest debt of gratitude is to you the readers who have given me the pleasure and the privilege of your time (and in some cases your funds).
I don’t know if my blog venture will meet with success or failure but whatever the final result it has been and continues to be a pleasure to have you visit my small part of the blogosphere.
The survey shows astonishing intensity and sharp opposition to reform, far more than national polls reflect. For 82% of those surveyed, the heath-care bill is either the top or one of the top three issues for deciding whom to support for Congress next November. (That number goes to 88% among independent women.) Sixty percent want Congress to start from scratch on a bipartisan health-care reform proposal or stop working on it this year. Majorities say the legislation will make them and their loved ones (53%), the economy (54%) and the U.S. health-care system (55%) worse off—quite the trifecta.
Seven in 10 would vote against a House member who votes for the Senate health-care bill with its special interest provisions. That includes 45% of self-identified Democrats, 72% of independents and 88% of Republicans.
Even more troubling for the White House and the leadership is that the political benefits of changing your mind and opposing the bill, like the benefits of quitting smoking start almost at once:
A congressman can buy himself a little grace if he had previously voted for health-care reform but now votes against it. Forty-nine percent of voters will feel more supportive of that member if he does so, 40% less supportive. More dramatically, 58% of voters say they will be more supportive of their congressman’s re-election if he votes against the bill a second time. However, for those members who voted against it in November and vote yes this time, 61% of voters say they will be less likely to support their re-election.
So much for the Damned if you do damned if you don’t argument.
The administration’s attempt to create a Fait accompli is very foolish. it has the potential to blow up in their faces like the Olympics or the Obama visit to Massachusetts during the Scott Brown election.
Democrats would be well advised to keep this in mind before they join the congressional version of Judean People’s front Crack suicide squad.
…beat their breasts about the John Edwards story not believing that he got away with it for so long. How can they do this on Morning Joe with a strait face?
You would think that they would be embarrassed to do so, I certainly would have thought so.
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