Democrats are trying to make it as diffcult as possible to pass health care reform. Former DNC chairman Howard Dean became the first notable Democrat to advocate to the Senate that they torpedo the existing bill and move to the reconciliation process to pass a better, cheaper bill.
Norah O’Donnell of NBC News attended a White House holiday party for reporters last night and she indicated unhappiness by President Barack Obama and his staff over these comments. On Morning Joe this morning she said, “They want to tie him up and have people come and beat him.”
Will the comments have any effect? It’s difficult to say. Joe Klein of TIME wrote “This is stupid above and beyond the call of duty.” Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com said progressives would be crazy to oppose this bill. Ezra Klein of The Washington Post articulates how vital liberals have been to this process by swallowing their pride and recognizing the bigger picture and bigger elements of this bill. Put another way: they’re not Mr. Dean and that makes them “heroes of health care reform.”