Obama’s late-February summit on health care reform isn’t designed to broker an elusive bipartisan deal that will leave John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi sobbing in each other’s arms. As Jon Chait points out, it’s designed to show a confused and ambivalent public that Republicans have no serious, workable ideas to contribute to what is already a moderate and centrist reform package. Republicans sense a trap, but a refusal to participate would play right into the President’s hands and reinforce the notion that Republicans are obstructionist and completely uninterested in bipartisanship.
How this will actually play out is anybody’s guess. The public still seems to want Congress to pass a health care bill, but they also really don’t like it when Mommy and Daddy fight. Obama has to thread the needle; he has to expose Republican intransigence and explain the bill’s merits without seeming like a bully or a didact. It’s a task that is certainly not beyond his abilities, but his success should be measured by the only milestone that really matters: getting a comprehensive bill passed.
Excellent writing Mark!