Last Thursday, a select group of Congressmen met with President Barack Obama at Blair House in Washington, D.C. for a meeting that no one was looking forward to. The topic was U.S. health care reform and the summit was set to be an all−day affair, one in which health care policy would be debated by key Senators and Representatives from both parties on live national television. That's what it was billed as, but that's not what happened.
What occurred was one of the most masterful strokes of political theater and public relations by Barack Obama since he chose his campaign themes of "hope" and "change" three years ago. Obama first conceived of the health care summit in hopes of opening up the political process to the American people, who were vexed not only that Washington seemed bogged down with health care, but also that so much of the bill had materialized through backroom wheeling and dealing. From U.S. Senator Ben Nelson's (D−Neb.) unconstitutional buyout from the plan to other pork−for−votes transactions brokered by the Democrats, the Senatorial war over health care impressed even the most ardent of cynics. Obama wanted to take the discussion from the backrooms to the main stage, and to show the American people how business is really conducted on Capitol Hill.
And that is exactly what they saw — an obstinate Republican Party not only refusing to compromise but also incapable of proposing a new idea beyond stale talking points. The public saw Senator John McCain (R−Ariz.) rambling about intricacies of the bill that neither he nor anyone else understood, while Virginia Representative Eric Cantor brought the full text of the 2,800−page bill to the meeting expecting a mountain of paper to somehow make a point by itself. Ultimately, the public saw a Republican Party lacking energy, lacking ideas and above all else, lacking any semblance of true commitment to discussing the issue of health care reform in the United States. Americans saw a hapless minority party merely towing the line until midterm elections.
What they also saw was a dominating moderator in Barack Obama, who left no opportunity un−pursued to call the Republicans' bluff. He dismissed Cantor's actions as "the kinds of political things we do that actually prevent us from having a conversation." Still further, he answered McCain's moralizing criticism of obscure parts of the bill by reminding him that "John, the election's over." Obama appeared frustrated at times during the summit, demanding that Republicans put aside the frivolous partisan jabs and actually discuss policy issues.
Obama, in fact, spoke more than all the Republicans at the summit combined. He spoke 119 minutes, while the Republicans spoke 110 minutes. Positioned among his peers in a squarely−arranged set of tables, Obama appeared to be working in the trenches, rather than speaking to Congressmen from a stage — his usual preference. In short, he seemed like a president in control of the situation — which is exactly why the health care summit happened in the first place.
The Democrats knew entering Thursday's powwow at Blair House that Republicans were not going to suddenly want to compromise, as evidenced by rumblings from the Democrats of potentially using reconciliation for the bill. Furthermore, Obama was keenly aware of the growing discontent among Americans about Washington's inability to act and its propensity to conduct its business in private.
Make no mistake — the health care summit had little to do with health care, and everything to do with portraying Senate Republicans as the unapologetic obstructers that they are. Barack Obama needed desperately to convince the American people that he is in control of Washington politics, and that both he and the Democrats can be trusted with running the country. Thanks to brilliantly−orchestrated political theater, he is an awful lot closer to painting that picture. Whether or not it's an accurate picture, however, remains much less clear.
--
Teddy Minch is a senior majoring in political science. He hosts "The Rundown," a talk show from 3 to 5 p.m. every Friday on WMFO. He can be reached at Theodore.Minch@tufts.edu.
