A quick note on the healthcare summit. I'm almost entirely ignorant of the details of the policy debate and also of the arcane political procedures of Capitol Hill. Neither can I accurately judge the mood of American voters on this issue. But my rather ill-informed and un-authoritative view is this: the gabfest might have done a lot more good than people are giving it credit for. Everyone's saying it was super-boring, nobody watched, the Republicans didn't embarrass themselves, etc.
But I think it might have helped take the heat of the issue. The majority of Americans oppose the healthcare bill. Not necessarily on substantive grounds, but because they're angry about the economy and even angrier that the Democrats are pissing around behind closed doors doing deals, and trying to ram a bill down the nation's throat, blah blah. But the summit might have helped it become more mundane than that: here are two parties, they're debating it, they disagree, but one has more votes than the other. At which point it becomes more understandable, duller and less of a secret socialist conspiracy.
Being boring is the point.
Comments