On the surface, the president will call for bipartisan efforts to solve a significant and complex subject. Beneath the surface, there are tough political calls on what to do next. Let's look at a lesson from the history of health reform and the political judgment calls facing our nation's leaders.
The last major congressional initiative for national health-care reform was the Clinton Health Plan in 1994. The effort was highly controversial and unsuccessful.
The next year, the Republican Party, under Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America" class, gained its first majority in the House of Representatives in over 40 years and placed the Clinton White House firmly on the defensive.
In the minds of political historians, the Republican victory is largely traced to turnout. More Republican voters turned out for the midterm elections than Democrats. In the minds of political analysts, the Democratic voters stayed home because the Democratic Party did not stick to its guns and finish the job on health reform.
Fast forward to 2009.
The Republican Party is enlivened by the health reform and budget controversies. A significant number of independents are anxious over the details of health reform. Midyear elections will be in 2010.
The White House and the Democratic congressional leadership must make a political judgment call. Do they respond to the lesson of history, or do they respond to the anger of the town meetings? One clarion call is to march forward on comprehensive health reform. The other call is to compromise and protect strong majorities in both congressional chambers.
Clinton: 'Stand and deliver'Former President Bill Clinton was recently in Nashville for the Jackson Day Dinner. He volunteered his advice to his fellow Democrats, and it amounted to strong words from an experienced leader. His message: "Stand and deliver."
In the congressional chambers, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., must make their own judgment calls.
For Pelosi, does she compromise and protect the newly elected Democratic representatives, many of whom are from conservative swing districts, or does she stand and deliver the comprehensive legislation that has been pursued for decades and received with such controversy?
For Reid, the judgment call is more technical and procedural. Does he pursue a bipartisan compromise to secure moderate, Republican votes, or does he choose a Democrats-only approach to health reform?
Clinton has made his choice. Obama and the Democratic congressional leaders must now make theirs.
In the judgment of this columnist, the Clinton declaration of stand and deliver is a statement of more than political posturing. It is a statement of political preservation.
Washington Report: Controversial LegislationPolitics paralyze U.S. labor board
