Where Democrats Went Wrong on Health Insurance Reform

Whatever your views of the health insurance industry and the current debate in Washington concerning whether or not to reform it, it is impossible to ignore the train wreck that is the Democrats attempt at messaging. During my time working on President Obama’s 2008 campaign, I often found comfort in the inability of Hillary Clinton and John McCain to establish a positive, consistent, succinct theme to counter our message of “Hope” and “Change”. The Clinton campaign constantly interchanged campaign themes, leaving people less likely to become excited about the campaign, and even less likely to know what a Clinton victory would even mean. Hillary was initially promoted as the inevitable nominee, the Hillary’s experience was contrasted with that of candidate Obama, then her campaign moved on to her role in Bill Clinton’s White House, a greater likelihood of winning a general election, and finally resulting to mocking the Obama campaign’s very successful “Change” theme (note to politicians: attacking something popular usually does not pan out very well). The McCain campaign was even worse at successful messaging. First we were introduced to the “Maverick,” then we had the experienced “safe bet,” after which we had the war hero with “Country First,” and finally we were handed Sarah Palin. So, in respect to the health insurance reform legislation currently being hammered out in the legislative branch, what happened to the Obama camp’s ability to frame the discussion in favorable terms? Simple: governing.

Now that the weight of the free world is on the shoulders of the President and his inner circle (operating at 50% capacity due to slow Senate confirmations) their focus has inevitably been divided amongst many issues, particularly Afghanistan. That is where the Democratic caucus in the House and Senate, as well as the countless political advisers working with the DNC came into the picture, kind of.

The debate over reforming health insurance has gone everywhere from compassion for your fellow man to death panels. The fact is, to build something, in this case health insurance reform; you need to do so over time and with a coherent plan. To destroy something, in this case blocking health insurance reform, you need only throw punches and wait for a knockout or stall for the final bell. The Republicans and insurance corporations have been throwing plenty of punches at reform. We have seen Democrats put forth themes covering compassion, humanity, financial benefits, saving lives, better care, and trust busting, to name a few. Within those themes are the only two winners for something of this size, money and death.

From the beginning Democrats should have chosen one, or designed a way to link the two issues, and never strayed during the coming debate. Easier said than done obviously, but impossible without the selection of a winnable theme. Anyone who has followed this debate knows that real reform, such as a strong public option, will save both money and lives.

The resources available to the left are more than sufficient to make the case to the American people. It is a hard pill to swallow for idealists on the left who think that insuring all Americans is our duty (which it is), is not enough of an incentive in Washington and on Main Street to win enough support for health insurance reform. The bottom line is that if it does not put money in our pocket, or save us from imminent danger we don’t jump on board with the intensity needed to topple the current fiasco that is the health insurance industry. I am not talking about fear mongering, but actually facts that are, admittedly, scary. Democrats did not need to wait until mid-September, and did not need to hear from researchers at Harvard, to know that people are dying as a direct result of the inadequacies of our current health care system. Hopefully, it is not too late for Democrats to change that truth; truth 45,000 American families learn every year.

Jacob Johnson

Executive Editor

http://commonsensecaucus.blogspot.com/

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