Just kidding, of course I watched it. I've always been intrigued by how people get their news and what information ends up shaping their opinions. And, maybe even more importantly, how public opinion doesn't necessarily have anything to do with facts and reality. And, even more important than that, how public opinion (which clearly doesn't have to be grounded in fact and reality) ends up a determinant in setting policy.
So, Barack Obama showed up last night on Capital Hill with nearly one half of the public believing health care reform is nothing less than a government takeover of our medical systems and that his Administration is spending 24 hours a day handing out money we don't have to anyone who asks.
Before the speech, I wondered whether the president would yet again appeal to reason and compromise or go in, guns blazing, and blast Congress for sitting on their collective asses while Rome is burning.
In fact, he did a bit of both.
It seems unlikely Congressional Republicans will suddenly embrace bipartisanship and change their obstruction strategy. They, no doubt, believe they're on a roll following the GOP governor wins in Virginia and New Jersey and Scott Brown's Senate win in Massachusetts. The most Obama can hope for is, following last nights performance, he's convinced the public it's certainly not him that's the problem. He's the adult, the rational one. I gotta say it was damning to watch the camera pan the House chambers and note not a single Republican standing to applaud tax cuts for small businesses, modifications to student loans to promote access to college educations, and the end of tax breaks to American companies that send jobs offshore.
A couple specific thoughts:
- Obama made it clear on several occasions he felt the House was carrying their weight and it was the Senate that had fallen short. He criticized the automatic filibuster, stopped short of calling for it's end, and cleverly noted that it's use makes the Republicans equally responsible for the lack of Senate accomplishment.
- It was great to see Obama call out the Supreme Court, as they sat right in front of him, for their disastrous ruling last week that now allows domestic and foreign corporations to, for all intents and purposes, buy Congress.
- Obama buried a commitment to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". He also buried a call to pass a health care reform bill. Following the last eight months of Congressional wrangling, that the health care bill didn't show up until nearly an hour into his speech might say something about the presidents willingness to wrangle more.
- I believe there's a tremendous anxiety among the public that the country is slipping and being passed. We get reminded (though some try like hell to deny it) that China is ascendant and our health care systems rank us somewhere among the ex-Soviet republics. I would bet Obama could get a lot of steam from his dramatic ("I do not accept 2nd place for America") commitment to not allow America to fall behind.
In the end, the speech was very, very patriotic and very, very moderate in policy. Whether it changed the current narrative is yet to be seen.
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