I’ve always been skeptical about Blue Dog opposition to Obamacare. I believe that, like most “moderates,” they just want to see which way the wind is blowing before coming out from beneath the porch. This NYT piece noted by Dan Riehl does not ameliorate my skepticism:
Given the steep climb toward 60, Senate Democratic leaders have begun to make another argument to lawmakers. They are pressing colleagues to vote with the party on procedural matters related to health care legislation and against any filibuster — a 60-vote issue — even if they intend to oppose the measure in the end when simple majority rules.
The sly allusion to “procedural matters” refers to a Democrat plan to slide Obamacare past the normal legislative process via budget reconciliation. These “leaders” want the Blue Dogs to vote for this procedural skulduggery and then to vote against the actual bill.
In other words, the Dem leadership is offering these curs the cover they crave. It’s a near certainty that they’ll leap for this opportunity to claim they voted against the bill despite having facilitated its passage. It’s the only way they can survive next year’s congressional elections.
They certainly can’t rely on President Obama to protect them. As the latest Fox survey highlighted over at Hot Air suggests, the president has lost his remaining credibility on health care. The same results are showing in other polls conducted by Gallup and Rasmussen.
And no amount of shouting about those evil Republicans or whining about ”the toughest Midterm Election that Democrats have ever faced” will do the job. Reconciliation, combined with craven lies to their constituents, is the only escape route left open to the Dogs.
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