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Published: September 27, 2010
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HEALTH CARE: 'You Dummies'
By Staff Reports
Several months ago President Obama promised that Democrats would be proud to campaign on the new health care overhaul. With campaigns now peaking, the only Democrats who mention the law these days are the ones who voted against it. So supporters have decided to try a new approach: calling voters dimwits. That's not how they're putting it, of course. Obama, for instance, says he faults himself "for not being able to make the case "more clearly to the country." Maybe if he spoke louder and used small words . . . .
Several months ago President Obama promised that Democrats would be proud to campaign on the new health care overhaul. With campaigns now peaking, the only Democrats who mention the law these days are the ones who voted against it. So supporters have decided to try a new approach: calling voters dimwits.
That's not how they're putting it, of course. Obama, for instance, says he faults himself "for not being able to make the case "more clearly to the country." Maybe if he spoke louder and used small words . . . .
Funny thing, though: The president said precisely the same thing nine months ago, during his State of the Union address, when health-care reform was still being debated: "This is a complex issue . . . .I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people."
Wait a second. Received wisdom tells us Obama is the greatest orator since Ronald Reagan, if not Cicero. He's so eloquent he could talk the ticks off a dog. He's known for nine months that he needs to do a better job of selling the health care overhaul -- and he hasn't been able to do it. Did he suddenly get tongue-tied? What's the real problem here?
The problem is not that people just don't understand a complex law, or even that -- as a recent AP story spun it -- Obama "has yet to find the right wavelength for communicating information that's relatively straightforward." After all, congressional Democrats conceded they didn't understand what was in the bill, either. But that didn't keep them from voting for it.
The problem is that the law stinks. The critics' predictions -- it's going to raise health care costs, the deficit, taxes, and insurance premiums, make getting medical care more complex, and help fewer people than advertised -- are coming true already. Members of the public understand this all too well.
When someone says, "I'm sorry you took it the wrong way," the listener knows the speaker is not really apologizing -- he's calling the listener oversensitive. And when a politician says, "I'm sorry I didn't explain things clearly enough," the voters know he's not really admitting a personal failure -- he's calling them stupid.
Democrats and an often sympathetic media are trying, once again, to tell voters they would like a lousy law if only they had enough brains. No wonder the Republicans are poised on the verge of an electoral sweep.
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Richmond Times-Dispatch © Copyright 2009 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company.