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A Speech Worthy of Hillary
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Candidate Obama attacked Clinton for her support of a universal mandate. President Obama gave a full-throated defense of one. Will liberals follow him?
Xtra Insight: Read more Daily Beast takes on Obama's health-care speech.
Let me pay President Barack Obama the most sincere compliment I can: His health-care speech could have been given by Hillary Clinton.
I did not support Barack Obama in the primaries. I preferred Hillary; first for reasons of deep affection and longstanding loyalty. But also because of health care. Hillary (and John Edwards) campaigned on an unabashedly progressive platform on health care. Barack Obama attacked Hillary in the primaries for her support of a universal mandate. Now he supports one. While his white paper on health care did call for a public option, I can't recall a time the words "public option" crossed his lips in the campaign.
There are liberal rumblings about mounting a primary challenge to Obama if he commits apostasy on the public option. Come on. Ronald Reagan passed the largest tax increase in American history, and no one on the right challenged him.
And yet Obama won the nomination in large part because of his support from the most progressive elements of the Democratic coalition. Now, in an odd twist of fate, it is the liberal wing of the party that seems most disenchanted with him. This despite the fact that Obama has, commendably, moved leftward on health care. In his speech tonight, Obama gave a full-throated defense of a public option. He excoriated health-insurance companies with rhetoric that would make Dennis Kucinich proud.
In fairness, it may be that Obama earned liberal support for his opposition to the war in Iraq, which was early, prescient, and brave. But there is simply no denying that President Obama is more staunchly liberal on health care then candidate Obama ever was. And yet there are even rumblings about mounting a primary challenge to the president if he commits apostasy on the public option. Come on. Ronald Reagan passed the largest tax increase in American history, and no one on the GOP right challenged him. Barack Obama has become a true progressive leader on health care. It remains to be seen whether his supporters can be good followers.
Xtra Insight: Read more Daily Beast takes on Obama's health-care speech.
Paul Begala is a CNN political contributor and a research professor at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute. He was a senior strategist for the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign and served as counselor to President Clinton in the White House.
For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.
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magicman
Opinion Precis Writing. I like the concept.
This is very well written. Thanks, I learned something important reading this article. Mr. Begala makes a persuasive case.
BasPos
Lincoln? Did someone say "Lincoln?"
drkaza12
as always Paul great insight. Your commentary is a necessary offset to a lot of the malarkey in the media passing as punditry today.
AmericanPravda
"Obama gave a full-throated defence of a public option."
If he did, I didn't hear it. The full-throated defence of the Public Option would have sounded something like...."And this bill will include a Public Option! Because, in the richest, most powerful nation that the world has ever seen, it is unconscionable that millions of Americans, who cannot afford ANY type of healthcare coverage, won't get access to quality healthcare. "
dana64
YOU ARE GREATER THAN OBAMA...................!!! American pravda
SirAndy
This is truly depressing. Obama lost the healthcare debate for Progressives last night by signaling that the public option is off the table and only about 5% of folks even noticed and even less care. If I see the phrase baby-steps one more time, I am going to throw my laptop out the window. We have been trying to get healthcare reform in this country since the end of WW2. You can't get more baby-stepped than that!
Bill Maher was right the other night. Republicans know Democrats are p*****s and if they attack hard enough, we'll always give way. The opening position should have been socialized, government run medicine. The compromise should have been the public option. Now we have nothing.
Whatever you say about conservatives, they know how to ruthlessly pursue an agenda. I am a Brit and I have often heard the American left wonder aloud why things are so much less progressive in the States. It's because the left in Europe has balls!
dana64
YOU are absolutely right SIR ANDY .............the Americans have turned into MEEK LAMBS and STUPID on top of that.
osea65
We'll just keep busting those socialist infected balls till the cows come home Andy!!!!
dana64
OBAMA gave in to the HEALTH insurance companies finally ..............Hillary had given in during her campaign.
HAVING MANDATE means An eternal GIVE AWAY tp the insurance companies and if there is NO GOOD PUBLIC OPTION it MEANS TOTAL TREASON.........you cannot fool me . BILL MAHER is right and this is a GREAT PITY for MOST AMERICANS
dana64
PAUL BEGALA..........you are stupid if you do not understand that this is a WIN FOR the INSURANCE biz.........and a MANDATE is what they wanted all alng.
This is also what HILLARY learned from her loss in 1993.........so she became FOR the MANDATE during her run.
Obama was right then and is WRONG NOW
diamondgirl
You are a pimple on the ass of this POTUS, you bash the conservatives every chance you get.As far as this Administration is concerned, from day one, there philosophy was, "We Won." Rightly so because the last 8 years were damaging, because of the deficit spending on the War and Pork projects. etc...
What the people who voted for Obama didn't realize is, they don't care about the unemployment, foreclosures, insurance. They love POWER! The dream of being in the office of the POTUS.
They are willing to throw anyone under the bus who gets in the way of their AGENDA, Van Jones, Wright, Ayers, Acorn., the poor, and unemployed, homeless, illegal's, uninsured, the elderly and there will be more before it's over.
If any of you really want to know what's going on in the world try watching Fox, because the stations you are watching are filtering out everything, and the WORLD IS JUST PASSING YOU BY.
osea65
You go diamondgirl, right on, yessss!!!! You described those liberal leftist socialists perfectly!!!!
osea65
Begala is just Obama's lackey , so no credibility at all!!!!
Thank you.
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