“Remember, it’s a good thing if the House passes this bill today. The bill will still get held up by the Senate or in conference, and the Blue Dogs will get branded for voting for this Statist bill -thus paving the way for the Republicans to re-take the House.”
Dang! That’ a good spin. I hope you’re right because I’m very depressed right now. I would like to have seen it killed tonight and dead for 10 more years.
I’m making a strong effort to believe my own spin, too. :-)
But maybe I’m right. Because if it never came to a vote in the House, you just know that the Blue Dogs would claim to their voters back home: “Oh no - I would NEVER vote for a government take-over of health care,” and get away with it.
Plus there’s some historical precedent: The voters bookted the Dems in ‘94 for a never-passed health care bill. Just the Democrats proposing it was enough to rouse the voters’ ire.
We can vote out a lot of blue dogs even if this bill fails. It’s not worth the risk.