Legal Commentary

Obama's Constrained Bully Pulpit

By Big Tent Democrat

It is not surprising that the Obama Administration shares the view often espoused by Village Dems and bloggers of a Presidency with little persuasive power:

White House advisers say Democrats need to understand that Obama is not all-powerful. "There is this sense on Capitol Hill that somehow the president can go out and make a speech and everything just magically becomes better," said a senior White House adviser who requested anonymity in order to speak frankly. "If there is a lesson out of the Massachusetts race, it is the people on Capitol Hill have to realize nobody can go win this for you. If you're going to cast the vote, then you have to be prepared to argue why it was the best vote."

(Emphasis supplied.) Given this view, the simple response from Congresspersons is to insist on THEIR version of legislation and to leave Obama to his devices. Many Village bloggers believe that passage of the Senate health bill is a no brainer politically. Obviously, that is not the view from the House (and one wonders if that is the view from the Senate, given their reluctance to agree to a fix via reconciliation.) When even the White House is not arguing for passage of the Senate health bill, where is the political constituency for it? It does not exist. Given that, it is not surprising that Speaker Pelosi takes the view that it is up to the White House and the Senate to step up:

Late last year, Pelosi informed Obama that the 2010 House agenda would consist of job creation and deficit reduction. Her Democrats would take no more politically risky votes, she told him, until the Senate had cleared its backlog. And that includes the health-care bill, Pelosi decided last week. As Brown delivered his victory speech in Boston on Tuesday, the speaker began canvassing House Democrats about prospects for approving the Senate version of the bill -- a vote that would send the legislation immediately to Obama. On Thursday morning, she announced she didn't have the votes.

I doubt this decision was taken lightly. But political reality is political reality. And with a White House and a Senate unwilling to lift a finger, it is a reality unlikely to change.

For a year, Village bloggers have written countless posts "explaining" the impotence of the Obama White House and the constraint of the 60th Senate vote. Perhaps they will now understand the constraint of the 218th vote in the House.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 24, 2010 (boomark / email).