Legal Commentary

Insisting On A "Progressive" Parade Could Hurt Chances Of Passage Of Health Bills

By Big Tent Democrat

The Village Dems are engaged in a strange exercise today - insisting on a "Progressive" parade in favor of the health bills. It is strange because all of the progressive votes have already been rounded up - the President patted some heads. At this point, insisting on proclaiming that the health bills are great progressive achievements actually undermines the drive to pass the damn bills - the Blue Dogs will be less inclined to vote for it.

Seizing on Chris Bowers' defensive post (Chris fancies himself a left wing stalwart) extolling the progressive virtues of the bills, such as they are, is counterproductive to passage of the bills. Better to point to the 'dirty f*ckin hippies' discontent, not punch them for it.

The only line of critique that seems logical is the Theda Skopcol attack on feminists - properly endorsed by Village Dems Matt Yglesias and Kevin Drum. After all, the progressives still have one more devastating punch in the gut to take - the Stupak Amendment.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 08, 2010 (boomark / email).