Observer » Columnist

The Schumer Option: A Short-Term Winner

Steve Kornacki — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:34:00 -0400

We still don’t know for sure what the final Senate health care plan will look like, but the most likely resolution to one of the stickiest issues has been obvious since early May. That’s when Chuck Schumer outlined his own compromise vision for an optional government-run insurance package. His proposal, a “level playing field” public option that would be subject to the same rules that govern private insurance plans, was vintage Schumer, reflecting his canny grasp of the various political calculations guiding his colleagues’ thinking. There’s a catch, though: For all of its present-day political savvy, Schumer’s solution poses a potential long-term political risk for Barack Obama and the Democrats if they do ultimately embrace it.

Change or Bust: In Prime Time, Obama Makes Things Stark

Steve Kornacki — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:11:00 -0400

Near the top of his latest primetime news conference, President Obama acknowledged that “Congress is still working through a few key issues” as it seeks to produce a unified health care plan. That meant that there wasn’t any specific proposal for Obama to point to and rally support for. We still don’t know how whatever plan emerges will fund expanded access and we still don’t know whether it will include a public option—and Obama shed little light on either issue on Wednesday night. But that doesn’t matter. He called the press conference with a simpler objective in mind: to reframe the health care debate for average Americans in broad, understandable terms.

Why They Hated Clinton Then, Why They Hate Obama Now

Steve Kornacki — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:31:00 -0400

“He is not an American citizen!” the Obama-hating Delaware woman rages in the latest viral YouTube video. “He is a citizen of Kenya. I am American…and I don’t want this flag to change. I want my country back!”
The entire rant is notable not just for the quivering hostility this unidentified woman expresses toward the president of the United States (she seems on the verge of tears at points) and the utter nonsense of her claim, but also for the fervent response of her fellow audience members: they, too, are entirely convinced that an imposter from Kenya has conned his way into the White House.

Blue Dog Math

Joe Conason — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:06:00 -0400

"Fiscal conservative” is one of those terms used by politicians of all sorts to describe themselves, without any real justification. Parroted mindlessly from one news cycle to the next by major media outlets, that phrase is often used to mislead the public about the priorities and policies favored by those who claim to embody budgetary prudence.
Consider the Democrats in the Blue Dog caucus, who constantly trumpet their fiscal conservatism and enjoy hearing that claim echoed in the media, especially now, when they are threatening to block health care reform. The Blue Dogs don’t like the public option for national health insurance; they bemoan the estimated trillion-dollar cost of covering everyone; and they zealously defend the prerogatives of the private insurance industry and the pharmaceutical manufacturers (who coincidentally give them millions of dollars in contributions).

Hold ‘Em Republicans

Steve Kornacki — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 01:28:00 -0400

Asked on Sunday’s Meet the Press whether he believes there’s a need for Congress to pass some kind of health care reform, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell replied, “Oh, absolutely. I’m not in favor of doing nothing.”
Well, of course he’d say that. Voters have long ranked health care as one of their top concerns and candidates from both parties routinely make pledges of reform a centerpiece of their campaign. McConnell knows there’s a broad consensus in America that something needs to be done and he’s not about to make headlines by challenging it.
But that doesn’t mean he actually wants Congress to do anything.

Obama’s Grim Choice on the Public Option

Steve Kornacki — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:22:00 -0400

A moment of choosing is fast approaching for Barack Obama and his party’s congressional leaders: to sacrifice the public option that the Democratic base holds so dear, or to stick with it, damn the consequences. Their decision looms as the difference between (almost) sure-thing passage of a compromise health care plan and an ugly, protracted legislative fight that could end up sinking all hopes of meaningful health care reform and severely wounding Obama. But if that makes the choice sound easy, it’s not. The creation of a government-run health insurance alternative for Americans is, to many of Obama’s most ardent supporters, in Congress and outside of it, the whole point of passing health care reform.

What Is Jeff Sessions’ Agenda?

Steve Kornacki — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:56:00 -0400

How many candidates for Congress—Democratic and Republican—have you heard loudly insist that they don’t believe in party labels, just in doing the right thing? And how many of them, once elected, end up voting with their party pretty much all the time? It’s an absurd dance. Voters like hearing about “independence” and “bipartisanship,” so candidates indulge them, only to take office and immediately morph into the party-line loyalists they just spent a year swearing that they weren’t. There are some exceptions to this rule (Arlen Specter comes to mind), but by and large, you can predict how more than 90 percent of senators and House members will vote on anything just by their party label.

Bill Clinton, Lagging Indicator

Steve Kornacki — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:29:00 -0400

Bill Clinton has never been one to needlessly stake out an unpopular position, which tells us something important about his recent declaration that he’s “basically in support” of gay marriage: the issue is fast becoming a mainstream one in Democratic politics.
The former president had previously said that his position on gay marriage was “evolving,” but, really, does anyone think that Clinton has been that conflicted in his personal view? As on countless other issues, his public position has been guided not by his own values but by political pragmatism.
This was clear when he was drawn into the gay marriage debate during his presidency.

Obama’s Dusk, Obama’s Morning

Steve Kornacki — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:43:00 -0400

High unemployment is the domestic equivalent of an unpopular war--an overpowering drain on presidential popularity that can’t be countered with policy achievements in other areas, personal charm, or any other conventional political weapon. Barack Obama may soon offer the latest affirmation of this. A few weeks ago came news that the unemployment rate for June had climbed to 9.5 percent—a slight uptick that silenced wishful suggestions that the economy had bottomed out and that a recovery would soon take hold. Now comes the Wall Street Journal’s latest survey of 51 leading economists. Their consensus: unemployment will soon hit 10 percent and will stay there through the first half of 2010, declining only to about 9.

Why McCain Still Defends Palin

Steve Kornacki — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:22:00 -0400

One of the responsibilities that comes with picking a vice-presidential candidate is never admitting that you might have made a bad call—even if it becomes painfully obvious to the rest of the world that you did.
So it was that John McCain withstood a six-minute grilling on Sunday from David Gregory on the subject of Sarah Palin, the woman who would now be a heartbeat away from the presidency had McCain prevailed last fall. McCain would have none of it.
“I love and respect her and her family,” he said. “I’m grateful she agreed to run with me. I am confident she will be a major factor on the national stage and in Alaska as well.