The announcement that Pres. Obama will speak before a Joint Session of Congress tomorrow is "In Change of Tactics, Obama To Lay Out Must-Haves for Healthcare Plan". A change in tactics would assume, first, that up to this point, it was never his plan to lay before Congress exactly what he wanted. It would also assume, it seems to me, an understanding of Obama's tactical plan on getting healthcare reform passed, something I doubt anyone but the President understood. At the same time, changing tactics is usually a sign of flexibility in seeking a strategic goal. The goal is getting healthcare reform passed. How that gets done shouldn't be set in stone.
I admired the way the President got his stimulus bill through Congress, even as the House added billions of dollars, the Senate cut billions of dollars, and then in conference the President got pretty much what he wanted. Considering the massive size of the stimulus plan, that is no minor achievement. He seemed to read the situation pretty well, understood the way it was going to run, and when push came to shove, got his way. While we have borne witness to an explosion of right-wing crazy-talk over the past month, the result of it all is the hardening of the Democratic majority in favor of serious reform, and the sidelining of once-major players including Charles Grassley of Iowa (he of dead-granny fame). It seems pretty clear that the August shakedown has resulted in more clarity, rather than less. With the President appearing before Congress tomorrow - and despite various headlines as to what, exactly, will be said and not said, where the various lines in the sand will be drawn - it seems to me the end-game will be clear before the last applause has died and the President is escorted out of the House Chamber.
More to the point, I still place my bets with the President. As a close observer of how he plays the game, I have decided I wouldn't want to play chess with the man. He probably would have the game figured out and won after seeing my first or second move. Unlike Bill Clinton, he doesn't display his political acumen for all to see; he does what he does quietly; the conventional wisdom that he has lost his mojo is a bit premature. When healthcare reform is passed, my guess is all the hand-wringing will be forgotten.
Virtual Tin Cup
