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Obama Needs Bubba
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While Obama kicks back over beers with Gates and Crowley, his health-care plan is falling apart. Maybe he should invite the original triangulator, Bill Clinton, to the Hill to save the day.
While 51 percent of Americans tell the Gallup poll they don’t understand the health-care debate (and the other 49 percent are probably lying), the White House is preparing for the Beer Summit on Thursday night. Harvard Professor Skip Gates, we are told, will be drinking Red Stripe or Beck’s, while Sgt. James Crowley, the Cambridge cop who arrested him, will be ordering up Blue Moon. The president himself will imbibe a cold Budweiser. Perhaps, like Roosevelt when he mixed one of his famed “dirty martinis” for Winston Churchill, Obama will fix the drinks himself.
On Larry King last night, even Colin Powell joined the party. The retired general made a stand for judicious self-control in the face of the ongoing evil of racial profiling. "There is no African American in this country who has not been exposed to this situation," he told King, but "a better course of action is to take it easy and don't let your anger make the current situation worse."
What's next? A Jay-Z concert for Skip? We're only six months in and the post-racial presidency seems to have bitten the dust. Meanwhile, health care is stalled.
"Sure, [Obama] calls me every few weeks," the former president told a person I know. "But it feels as if, you know, he’s just checking a box."
After six months of world adulation, is the charismatic president just not used to meeting such infuriatingly unresponsive characters as the balky Blue Dog Democrats? Has he become so used to wowing ’em from 10,000 feet that he's rusty with the kind of one-on-one, let’s-have-a-beer charm offensives he needs to be launching behind closed doors with surly Southern congressman and senators, not just the professor and the police officer who are the current stars of cable news reality shows?
General Powell went on to describe to Larry King the “unease” he picks up when he travels around the country about the rising deficit and the plight of the economy. “You have to have a main attack, as we say in the military,” he said. “And the greatest concern I’m hearing …is, ‘My gosh, where is all this money coming from?’…We have to do…a better job in helping the American people understand some of these most complex issues, health care being No. 1.”
If Obama has lost his customary ability to synthesize, perhaps he should turn for help to that great ol’ explainer William Jefferson Clinton. This administration’s determination not to make the last Democrat’s mistakes on health care has been overlearned by Obama and his advisers. Because the received wisdom about Hillarycare is that it was killed by the unilateral arrogance with which it was handed down to Congress, Obama has gone too far in letting warring committees turn his key campaign promise into roadkill.
Surely it’s the former president who got it wrong once who has spent the most time and lost the most sleep thinking over how he would do it again. More important, wouldn’t Bubba do a better job than the professorial Obama at sweet-talking, arm wrestling, hugging, and head locking such obstructive Blue Dogs as Arkansas Rep. Mike Ross, who used to run a family drugstore just like the one Bill remembers from his years growing up in Hot Springs? Or North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler, who’s one of that class of moderate Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer promised not to push around too much when Rahm persuaded them to run for a seat in the House? Obama needs to get himself dirty, and be seen to get dirty.
It looks like Obama would rather live on cheeseburgers than let Clinton get into the act on health care—or on anything else, for that matter. Maybe he thinks there’s no stage big enough for both these two Mount Rushmore megastars and never will be. Despite surface cordiality and self-restraint for Hillary’s sake, the former president’s wounds from the harsh charge of racism on the campaign, a falsehood on which Obama created his "post-racialism" campaign, remain deep, and they are not assuaged by the coolly minimal lip service a still mistrustful Obama pays to Bill’s presidential wisdom. “Sure, he calls me every few weeks,” the former president told a person I know. “But it feels as if, you know, he’s just checking a box.”
Isn’t this the racial reconciliation that should be taking place over a beer at the White House?
Xtra Insight: The Daily Beast complete coverage on health care.
Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown.
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Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown.
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Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown.
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Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown.
Be more straight-forward Tina; Obama, as much as we love him, is proving to be a coward. He won by a landslide, 72% of the population want public option healthcare, and he has a congressional majority. Yet all he does is spend time on TV looking for love. Who cares! Obama needs to finally step up; enough of the apologies every time someone is offended, enough of the health industry criminality, get to work Mr President, stop being such a wimp. Call on Bill if you have must(the people love him), as the leaders of Germany, the UK, France and Italy for advice: it's time to deliver.
LanosIceland, Obama's problem is that he has a significant number of Democratic congressmen who were elected in previously Republican/reactionary districts and the demographics have not changed. He and Rahm are trying to protect them. These congressmen are afraid that if they support a public option, called socialism by the rabid right, they will be booted in November. Many of them are right. What they need to do is show strength, courage and resolve to do the right thing in the face of fanatic opposition so they will at least have a positive legacy even if they lose in the next election. In the long run, they will have a reward for their class and character that supersedes public office and, who knows, they might just impress enough independents with their political and personal courage & leadership so as to win again against perceived odds. Bucking the mob can have its unexpected reward.
Yes, because Bill and Hill did such a great job the last time. You appear to be much too intelligent to think that Obama is kicking back with a beer and allowing health care reform to fail. That's a big fat lie and you know it.
Seriously, your bitterness is showing. You started the nonsense that Obama is holding Clinton back - she said otherwise. Get over it, they lost.
I too think President Obama and the Democratic party are missing out by not using Bill Clinton's ability to relate to a lot of people in this country and in Congress. The Republicans, conservative Democrats and special interests are in the process of sabotaging meaningful health care reform and if the President wants to avoid confrontations so he can negotiate with the Republicans he needs to have someone who can be blunt about what is happening and educate Americans. The risks to the country if we don't change health care are enormous and yet the insurance companies and the Republicans in their zest to regain control will continue to sacrifice the people and principle to prevent anything President Obama supports. I say engage Bill Clinton and let him loose.
No, the country lost. Brown points out that Obama should learn from Clinton's mistakes, but he overcorrected in the othe direction. The key is to find a happy middle.
Incidentally, Hillary's health plan both in 1993 and the MUCH better one she proposed during the 2008 primaries were both better than the current Pelosi-Reid-Obamacare debacle.
Agree - the piece she had that this lacks is quality of care - how we get there.... good coverage does not mean good care. Once we say we want to shift the paradigm to prevention and health promotion, where's the workforce and system to deliver it? Where is the plan to make it happen? Our physicians are not trained to practice in a prevention/health promotion model and we don't have the tools in place to make it happen. Preventive care and high quality care is expensive in terms of the human element as well as in administrative and support staffing. We need a plan to address this or there will not be real change. We need to educate the workforce who can then educate the population. Hillary had a plan for reimbursing physicians at a higher rate if they participated in a program of education in prevention delievery. Docs need an incentive to learn, they have lost their curiosity... We need to develop new curricula for med schools, start w/the new docs as soon as possible and try to retrain those who are open to changing, but healthcare quality is unlikely to improve if there is no plan for achieving it. Insurance reform is not healthcare reform. We need both.
Why did you leave out what he said about adult supervision and the fact that the Cambridge police should not have arrested him? False advertising. Hijacking the news. Why did the police lie in the police report causing the 911 caller to obtain a lawyer? Who brought 2 blackmen with backpacks into the police report?
He needs Clinton, who industralized prisons, and of course the 3x you are out law designed for Blacks because we all know white men rape, molest and murder children over and over before they are caught.
Pleeze.....
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And you think those adjectives apply to the great triangulator? The guy who screwed up a much better healthcare plan, lost the House for the first time in generations, blew multiple opportunities to get rid of OBl, gutted the CIA (making most of the current Iraq/Iran problems inevitable), and has no personal moral compass.
As a conservative, I hope your every wish comes true and that Tina is immediately made the President's number one advisor. As someone who wants the best possible outcomes for the next few years, it would be preferable that he start listening to Gen. Powell
Gee, do you think Bubba could do for the rest of us what he did for Hillary during the campaign?
Tina Brown, instead of whinning and obsessing about Obama, could better use her space on this blog to EXPLAIN whatever it is that people don't understand.
People like her are a big part of the problem.
Tina, you are so transparent in your grief over Hilary's defeat. She and Bubba did not get a health care bill last time...they would not have been more successful than this president this time.....Bill and his performance during the primaries edited himself out of relevance to this administration, especially on the domestic front.....
This is another great article you've written here. I wouldn't necessarily bring Bubba to Capitol Hill quite yet, but I would certainly have him over the 'Ol House to have a Beer and shoot some Pool.
The Health Care Bill is going to be a tough sell and the only ingredient that will work is the 'combination shot' (see Buckley's Comedy 'photo ops'). The American Public is going to have to see the 'sense' of the Plan and so far there are no details. Instead of getting caught in the details, it would better to emphasize the 'combination shot' of savings. The American Government has got to understand that their survival, indeed their ability to even contribute, is going to depend as much on rational Tax Policy, Savings, and Bold Initiatives, many of which have not yet even been considered.
Let me take you into the Star Wars World we are barreling into in this 21st Century. We have a declining Population at the back end. Young Families are not being formed simply because the structures in Society are preventing it, COPS and a For Payoff Legal System are primarily responsible for this. Hence the need for Reform (that might include Campaign Finance Reform). If COPS want to be Bullies or Chippendales, they need to find a new job. The same goes for Judges and Politicians. It is gratifying to see some progress is being made in NJ?
The entire Social Structure Ideology has got to go. From Social Security right down to the New Health Care Bill. Government has got to learn something from Business...it is the Coop. By combining Pools and resources into larger groups, greater costs Savings will flow. One is Prescription Drugs which the President has already referred to, but the 'pill description' was something right out of The Matrix at the last News Conference. (I'm laughing...ah hum...sorry). It was kind of funny. But this is what America loves about it's New President. He bonds... warts and all (see Chicago Senate Auction).
None of this is going to work however until you DEEP SIX THE BANKERS. Why are you feeding the wolves while the Deer are starving? First things first...and until you understand that, there will be no money from the pockets of The People to even pay for food, much less a Coop Govt. Health Plan. Unless, you are looking to trade down in Cost. And this is where things become Bizarre. If the Plan is too good, it ruins another Insurance Industry.
One of the Prime Tenets of Progressives and Conservatives over the years has been fracture of Corporate Largess and Monopoly of any kind (see AT&T under Reagan). The biggest problem facing America is Monopolies in Banking. If I were President, I would clawback every penny loaned to Bankers. Every penny. You were setup by the Bush Administration with a Financial Crisis and that is all there is to the story. America is funny about it's Politics and 8 year changeovers are important. But enough is enough with the Banking Elite, send them packing and declare them Public Enemy #1 and then you will have a better chance on other issues. It is time to clean the bath water....everywhere. Reimpose Glass-Steigel. The Banks have no Business being in the Securities Industry, they were formed to compete against them, not to join arms with them in a face first plunge towards fixing Stock Market Crashes, which between the two entities they seem always to produce. It is in their interest to do so. Call their bluff and throw them out. A complete housecleaning.
Get someone from Industry into your Treasury Position. Bush had the right idea in bringing in Snow, Obama should do the same. Industry has been locked out of this debate and frankly, they are so busy dog paddling right now, who could blame them for being absent. Industry is America's Future, and Computers are the Core of the NextGen Economy that is forming here. Next I would get people from Agriculture. Next I would get some Major People from Engineering. The Electrical System is being revamped in England. What? England steals my ideas and America looks idly by? You're kidding right? Electricity is the Future energy source and England has found a way to remove Diesel Trains and replace them with Electric Ones. What are we doing? It looks like a whole lot of nothing. You have to spend on Infrastructure that reduces operating cost and you have to do it on a very grand scale. This is not make work, this is making up for work not done while everyone was off throwing dice for the last 2 decades. Here's a clue for you....Electricity can be an EXPORT. Figure it out...the plans are over there on the shelf collecting dust.
This is the time for the President to say "Back To Work".
Excellent response Magicman! I too am frustrated beyond words the BO hasn't, at least to this time, 'deep sixed the bankers'. In fact, to be critical for a moment...he's taken far too long to get the financial 'crisis' under control.
But my real frustartion must reside with the fact that Americans don't understand the Healthcare issue, because BO has totally failed to articulate the plan in any simple coherent way!
The problem is that te American people do understand it. You leftwing nuts don't give a hoot about being able to afford it but they do. This isn't a war that will be over some day so you can afford to go into debt to pay for it. This is a permanent ongoing program. The cost has to be addressed.
"Electricity is the Future"
maybe.
Fair article Tina and for once I agree with you. With the election of Obama last year, it was said that he was going to be sidetracked by many domestic issues still troubling America. This little altercation with Gates should have died a natural death, but instead Obama gets involved.
He of all people should know better !!
I, like a few friends are begining to worry just how quickly this man can be sidetracked, especially at a time when he has more pressing matters at hand.
Did you read the police report, or should we just ignore the fact that the police wrote a false report!!
Ohnotagain, no one, including our MSM wants to talk about the facts. But for those of us who have read the police report, listened to the 911 call, and the discrepancies in Sgt. Crowley's statements, it is abundantly clear, Gates should have never been arrested.
And, did I fell to mention Gates' disorderly conduct charge was dropped.
Thank you, Tina! I am so glad you wrote this. Bill Clinton is so good at explaining things -- Explainer in Chief. But Obama seems incapable of clearly explaining this issue. Maybe it's because he is still selling an idea, and not a plan, like Chuck Todd says. But Obama is losing. And Bill Clinton is such a fabulous explainer. His convention speech was brilliant. I do not understand why Obama has not mended fences and cultivated Bill Clinton. He is this incredible asset who is not being used. I totally agree with Tina. Barack needs Bill. Health care is sinking.
Great article they are not all jems bau this one certainly is atleast the one part about Bill Clinton joining the health care frey (The part about the arrest, not so much) people identify With Bill Clinton much more then they do with Obama. Obama got elected because he was a clear opposite of Bush and the last eight years and while that eye in the center of the storm approach was an asset to him then, it is certainly not helping now as the republicans keep hammering away at presidency. MESSAGE TO BILL CLINTON: SEND HELP NOW.
If Bubba is so good at explaining things then why couldn't he sell Hillary's healthcare plan . The multiple healthcare plans floating around belong to congress not Obama. Not only has he not signed off on any plan, he hasn't been presented one that is in tact and ready to be sold.
Does Tina has an explanation of why the more Hillary campaigned for her plan the less support it got or is she simple trying to rewrite history. Perhaps, the answer lie in lack of awareness of Clinton hisory. Or maybe she is just doing what the Clinton's instructed her to do.
Bottom line is that Tina is doing more to undermine Hillary than she is Obama.
It's like when lame duck Bush was still president and Obama was waiting in the wings, Tina: we have only one president at a time.
I wholeheartedly concur. It's time Obama takes the health care issue in his own hands, move it away from the Congressional Committees (mo wonder the public is confused). Bill Clinton might indeed be the man who knows how to do that. Please don't tell me he wouldn't only because things went wrong back in '93. Didn't I lose the Wimbledon final in '80, only to win the title in '81?
hah, WOW! McEnroe! Love your commentary, and I too concur! Clinton was right in 1993, just as Obama is right today -- we need a public plan. But this health care debate has been an utter disaster with misinformation running amock, mainly because the door was open to the critics before a plan was finalized.
Secretary Sebelius has been no help, and w/ Senator Kennedy out of action, this plan is in dire need of star power.
Please, McEnroe, lend some of your popularity to ObamaCare! Plan an event in NY! Come out in support of a public plan! Tell the obstructionist republicans and the blue dog democrats delaying health care reform, "COME ON! YOU MUST BE KIDDING!"
Yeah, we need a public plan because we aren't drowning in enough debt yet. Let's create another huge public behemoth that siphons money out of the real economy. Then what can we have the govt own next...why stop with the banks, car companies and health insurance?
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The only thing Bill Clinton could help is how to treat interns. He along with his wife & both of their egos screwed up the last health care reform the last time it came up & he showed his power trying to get his wife elected....
The fact that Bill is far fart away is a good thing for Democrats & the last thing we need is him sticking "anything" into the Washington mess called Congress...
Yeah, because Obama is doing such a swell job on his own. The term Tina Brown used, "overlearned", is entirely accurate. People claim the Clintons were too involved? Obama is not involved nearly enough.
Same result: no health care reform.
Exactly. The Clinton '93 approach was too autocratic and involved. Obama's approach is just messy and lazy.
They should join forces, find the middle, and get it done.
Ms Brown must have slept through the Clinton years.
Bill Da Man.
He can do it.
CLINTON PRAISE-WITH PLEASURE
GDP--rose from 6300 to 11,600
NATIONAL INCOME-5,000 to 8,000 Billion--took 20 years to grow 2500B before Clinton
JOBS CREATED--over 22 million--record by far
AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS--$360 to $478
AVERAGE WEEKLY HOURS WORKED--never hit 35.0--hit that mark 4 times in 80's
UNEMPLOYMENT--from 7.2% down down down to 3.9%
WELFARE TO WORK-11,533,710 on federal roll in 1996 and 3,880,321 in 2007.
MINIMUM WAGE--$4.25 to $5.15
MINORITIES--did exceedingly well
HOME OWNERSHIP--hit all time high
DEFICIT--290 Billion to whoopee a SURPLUS
DEBT---- 28%---300% increase over prior12 years
FEDERAL SPENDING-- 28%---80% under Reagan- who da true conservative?
DOW JONES AVERAGE--3,500 to 11,800 all it's history to get to 3500 and Clinton zooms it
NASDAQ--700 to 5,000---all of it's history to get to 700 and Clinton zooms it
VALUES INDEXES-- almost all bad went down--good went up in zoom zoom zoom
FOREIGN AFFAIRS--Peace on Earth good will toward each other---Mark of a true Christian--what has Bush done to Peace on Earth?
POPULARITY---highest poll ratings in history during peacetime in AFRICA, ASIA AND EUROPE even 98.5% in Moscow--left office with highest gallup rating since it was started in 1920's.
STAND UP FOR JUSTICE--evil conservatives spent $110,000,000 on hearings and investigations and caught--- ONE--- very evil man who took a few plane rides to events.
BOW YOUR HEADS--Thank you God for sending us a man of Bill Clinton's character, intelligence, knowledge of governance, ability to face up to crises without whimpering and a great leader of the world.
THANK YOU GOD FOR THE GOOD TIMES THE CLINTON YEARS.
@burlington: What? "Thank you God for sending us a man of Bill Clinton's character....." I say "God Help Us - don't bring him back".
Whatever - he left office with 67% approval ratings even after all the crap the GOP threw at him. If Al Gore hadn't distanced himself from Clinton we would never have had to endure Bush. Obama neeeds help on this issue (his primary issue) and if Bill's the man, sobeit.
The Clinton years were good ones. I could care less if he boffed Rahm Emanuel in the oval office. His weaknesses are no different than the C Street Band, and believe me that whole group is creepy. Personal failures aside, Clinton's presidency was relatively painless. It was followed by the WORST 8 years of our lives.
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'Thank you God for sending us a man of Bill Clinton's character, intelligence, knowledge of governance, ..."
because he made possible a conservative congress that forced him to balance the budget - against his will and contrary to his many recorded statements that it could not be done in his term
Then why didn't this same conservative congress force George W. Bush to balance the budget?
The last thing Obama needs is the polarization that Bill Clinton would bring. Keep the focus on Health Care; keep asking people if they like being treated like s--t by HMOs. Keep publishing the Insurance companies' profits and their CEOs salaries and bonuses. But keep Bill in the closet until the signing and recognize him for his pioneering by giving him the first pen.
Polarization? Um, Bill Clinton's approval ratings are much higher than Obama's, who's barely above 50% in most polls and already below 50% in Zogby and Rasmussen. It's Obama who's the polarizer now.
In what poll was Clinton's rating much higher at what time. You are rewriting history.
Really, Tina ? Bubba has baggage.
Do we really want to get Hillary-Healthcare in ObamaCare problems now?
In between, the economic scene changed with the Bush war in Iraq and other drains. What we could have afforded then, we can't even think of now. Unfortunately, Bubba is popular abroad, not as much in the country. Sure, he still has people who would listen to him, but with Hillary at State Dept. and Bubba in Healthcare, it wouldn't be ObamaCare, would it ?
Bubba (and his wife) are more popular domestically than Obama. Check the polls lately?
Democrats are dumb
Stimulus
10% has been expended.
It is the first inning of a nine inning ball game
YET! Dumb kids on TV let R get by screaming "it is not working"
What the heck is wrong with these spokespersons??
R will never cooperate.Never Never.
Newt said in 1994 "If we take Congress we will investigate every decision made by this administration"
GAO reported Newt's Barbarians in the House
spend $110,000,000 on Hearings Investigations trying to destroy the administration.
13 Hearings on a known normal land deal Whitewater. Borrow--Buy Land-Cut Roads-Sell Lots.--Done daily all over the nation.
Bushaloons gave us WORST administration in history. Absolute Truth.
D are dumb to try and pacify Freaknuts.
You have the Power ignore and stomp them.
Send no $$ to their Districts.
cswinney2@triad.rr.com
angry ugly old man
I'm starting to see a pattern here, Tina, and it's you leaving the breadcrumbs. What's with all the sourgrapes? There will one day be a female president, and maybe it'll be Hillary (God willing, not Sarah Palin). In the meantime, however, take care to keep your sour notes to yourself. Healthcare will get done; we are headed in the right direction.
Pres Obama & Rahm have a vague idea of what will happen to the Democratic Party & Pres Obama if the USA doesn't get universal health care with a gov't paid option by 12/31/09.
There is no telling if putting Bill Clinton on Obama's team will help or hinder passage of adequate universal health care legislation.
There are people bent upon destroying Obama's presidency such as the Birthers who will stop at nothing to destroy BHO's presidency. The polarization of America is a favored ploy of both those who oppose BHO & BHO's supporters.
Who knows; maybe Slick Willie could help us get universal health care by 12/31/09? It's up to Pres Obama to decide Bill Clinton's fate.
Some are frightened that Slick Willie would bring DLC types into the universal health care battle. Radical progressives don't like DLC types; one could say that progressives have a visceral loathing of the DLC; Bue Dogs in the 111th Congress are in a possition to become an object of progressive hate & contempt.
American politics are a blood sport.
This is a heavyweight fight.
Bill Clinton talked big about affordable health care for EVERYONE, gave the entire issue to his clueless wife, so he could say later "I tried!", and had no bleeding intention of really fighting for affordable, effective health insurance.
The last person Obama needs is "Bubba the Booty Dog".
Obama has to FIGHT LIKE HELL for affordable, effective, health insurance.
For EVERYONE.
Obama? Fight? The Wimp-in-Chief? You've got to be kidding, right?
Wimps get elected President these days? I guess McCain and Palin didn't put up much of a fight, then.
Ah the good old days with Bill.....lowest crime in 50 years, best economy in 50 years, spreading peace (former Yugoslavia, Ireland, etc.) instead of war, actually catching the bad guy (Milosevic), keeping religion out of government, restoring democracy to Haiti, using taxes to rebuild cities via enterprise zones instead of giving it to Wall Street Corporations, advancing civil rights for all, etc.
Tina's gotta be on the Clinton's payroll. It's the only explanation.
Or maybe she's finally discovered the difference between The Real Deal (Bill), the Worker-in-Chief (Hill), and the Talker-in-Chief (Obama).
Obama is more talk, less filling. At least the Clintons actually gave a d*mn.
Ms. Brown watch it your favortisim is showing........Come on President Obama is gonna lose some and win some, he said he would make mistakes but he would also be the bigger man and admit it............I like President Clinton but he has a little problem with admitting mistakes...........President Obama can confer with any x president or officials but he is quite capable of explaining anything............And you know that.........
Bill's help would weaken Obama with both Dems and Reps. This would set a terrible precedence of "when things get tough I call a Clinton".
The Representatives on the Hill will be looking for a Clinton everytime Obama is REALLY serious about passing a bill. If he is going to lead, he has to jump in and get dirty. Not to mention it drags our Sec State into the mix and off her task. If Bill got involved the Republicans (and many Democrats) would shift the conversation to Hillary-Care (and if we thought the Gates issue was a distraction; you haven't seen anything yet).
Lets see what the man does and how well he keep his campaign promise to us.
Tina, you're obsessed with Bill, Hillary and Obama as a triangle and the poor Clintons being neglected. You're a loyal friend, for sure. But you yourself need to get over that and view the bigger picture.
It's not about these three people, it's about the ineffectiveness of the Dems to tell the American public a compelling story and work together effectively. You don't see Capital Hill Repubs breaking rank the way Dems do, in fact it's news when it happens. And the news is, Dems can't get it together. They can't possibly wonder why they lose credibility as a party.
What I couldn't believe is that Obama, who ran and won the most astonishing presidential campaign in my life time by telling a simple compelling narrative didn't provide a simple compelling narrative to the American public about what health care reform meant and what it would provide. Before attempting to run it through Congress. It's as if public opinion and active support didn't matter. A 1000 page document is not the same thing.
As usual, the Dems left the brilliant narrating to the Reps on the issue and then wonder why the 'average American' doesn't support their efforts or "vote against themselves".
Tina - Obama Needs Bubba Like a Hole in the Head.
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Nobody saw Hillary running the ticket to keep her party happy? I did- I also felt like she ran with Obama and they played her cards right, she looked like an opponent. As far Mr.Clinton is concerned he ended the first Gulf war and also a large portion of discrimination in the U.S. The only way to ruin him for that was scandal, or knock him off like a Kennedy.
See Bush and the jr. stepped rigth back (after waiting) to "finish the job", Iraq was a post continuation of operations lost after Bush Sr. lost his second term- that WAS not going to happen again.
I found it odd that Mr.Clinton had a few military mishaps being he was against war- my personal feelings is a few botched "jobs" and he could a terrible reputation...
That could be an over statement and far too kind. But none the less his work on behalf of Aids ( thats without an E) (errrr not AIDES- he had Presidential AIDES). People say they flip flop alot I say they play to not get killed ( after Clinton friends death in office during the election, J.F.K. and etc...you got to be careful).
Barack isn't running the country he's a diplomat, which is what the chief executor is. A dictator runs a country.
cough cough
Tina, My husband and I were saying the same thing about Clinton joining in on the health care battle the other night. Apparently most people posting don't agree. But, I think Clinton could help to tone down some of the over the top rhetoric coming from the right. It's also true that he could help with the blue dogs in that people in those districts trust Bubba more than they do Obama. Like him or not he has the "been there done that" ability to speak on the issue. What's frustrating for me is the fact that no other Democrat, aside from Obama, is out there trying to counter the outrageous claims made my the Republicans.
I hope they take your advice on this one.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT HARRY REID HAS SIGNIFICANT DISCRETION TO FASHION A BILL USING THE TWO VERSIONS PASSED BY THE SENATE HEALTH AND FINANCE COMMITTEES. The latter is terrifically weak on the public option, employer mandates and more. Harry Reid has not been known to be a forceful leader, but we need him now to craft the strongest possible bill to bring to the Senate floor for a vote ... ideally this will achieve 50 votes that doesn't compromise strategies that can put us on par with the health care provided by developed countries around the world. I'D PROPOSE SENDING LETTERS TO HARRY REID WITH A $1.00 CONTRIBUTION AND PLEDGING A HUNDRED TIMES MORE AT HIS NEXT ELECTION IF HE FASHIONS A STRONG PUBLIC OPTION BILL THAT INCLUDES HIGH STANDARDS OF NON-DISCRIMINATION AMONG PRIVATE INSURERS. His role cannot be underestimated, including appointments of senators to a "Conference Committee" before its all over. His tendencies are quite conservative on such issues. We need him not to be just a caretaker, but a leader. IF BILL CLINTON CAN ENGINEER FRIENDLY PRESSURE ON THE MOST CONSERVATIVE SENATORS AND HARRY REID -- ALL THE BETTER. But I think each one of us should consider how we can put pressure on Congress as well.
Very good. We all sit back and expect it to happen. We must put up a real fight and let Reid and others know what we want.
Democrats should stop making fun of Republicans, calling the people who have every right to be shown the original birth certificate of our current President Birthers as if in a sneer. All the politicos on the talk shows do this and some of the media. If they don't think something such as verification of the birth of the President in our country, which is a prerequisite for holding office, is important, then let the copy of the original certificate be put on the web and the television large and plain so that the Electorate can see it, and the matter will be moot! Or maybe they would rather use it as a tool to continue making fun of people!
What other president has had to show a birth certificate? George W. Bush?
There is only one reason the idiots running around screaming "show me the birth certificate" are doing so is because Obama has BLACK skin. Period.
Besides, Obama has been checked out by ever alphabet agency that exixts in the federal government.
Finally, Birthers are fools.
It was and it is. http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_5.jpg
Go to factcheck.org for more.
But let me guess, you don't believe the state of Hawaii because they're in the conspiracy too, right? Funny how that works. I have a cousin who watches Fox obsessively and insists all other news organizations are suspect. No irony in her soul.
Done, done and done again to the best of his ability. Different states have different laws and regulations and most of you who post things like this believe state's rights are supreme . Why can't they be respected in this case? I have a "Certificate of Live Birth". This is what my birth state issues. I cannot change it. Should he invent something and take it to your house?
Isn't it amazing how, no matter what the subject, a certain faction of this country always brings it back to birth? Sort of like a gang of street bullies who finally got bested by the good guys.
Admit it, you hate the idea of a black, moderate, Democratic President. Believe me, he's not a liberal - I am and he's too conservative for me.
I was born in Louisiana which issued a Certificate of Live Birth. I guess ole Bobby Jindal best give up trying to run on a GOP ticket in the future because if he was really born in LA, then he got a Certificate of Life Birth, also.
Thank you.
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