I think what Plouffe is saying is that, “You’re screwed either way, so if you’re going to go down anyway, go down with us.”
The reason he was brought in was to restore confidence in the Obama machine. Not just so we fear them, but so that Democrats shut up and let the Obama team drive the bus.
Right now, the Dems think that the bus is going in the wrong direction and swerving all over the highway. You can tell because they’re giving the WH all kinds of advice.
That healthcare bill is a poison arrow aimed straight at the heart of the Democratic Party, and the WH expecting career politicians (who love the power and perks of their offices above all else) to willingly drink the Jonestown Kool-Aid Plouffe and others (Axelrod, Pelosi, Reid et al) have served up doesn’t make any sense.
Nobody fears the Obama WH up on Capitol Hill, and as 2010 moves along fewer and fewer congressional Democrats are going to be willing to step up and take a big swig of that blue-flavored concoction. Any Democrat of note since November (incumbent or running for a national office, with the exception of Bill Owens up in NY-23) has bought it when supporting ObamaCare. NO Dem is going to go near it soon.