Obama and Health Care: The Silver Tongue Versus the Tin Ear

by Doug O'Brien

Over the past several tumultuous months America has seen the Democratic Party’s ambitious attempt to restructure health care slam head-on into the obstacle of public opinion.

The American people are learning first hand the answer to the age old question of what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.  President Obama has spent months pronouncing that action must take place on health care and stating “failure is not an option.”

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Speaker Pelosi has chimed in with one of her definitive statements (the kind that keep getting her in trouble) that the Democrats will absolutely pass a health care package within weeks.  These proclamations come after weeks of unprecedented turmoil resulting in the public’s support for “reform” plummeting and taking confidence in the president with it.

What is truly amazing in this situation is that neither the White House, nor Democrat leaders in Congress have adjusted their positions or tactics one bit since widespread concern, uncertainty, confusion, anger, opposition and even rage over “reforms” swept much of the nation. 

At the White House the campaign team remains steadfast in their apparent belief that there is no problem that the President can’t talk himself out of.  They drove their seventy percent approval rating square into the brick wall of an always skeptical populace.  David Axelrod and friends promptly threw it in reverse, backed up, and then drove into the wall even faster. 

The town hall meetings and protests should have indicated that there was an organic wave of skepticism building against health care reform, and, just as importantly, against the way Washington was trying to impose it.  Somehow, the White House brain trust completely misread this situation and decided that this called for the eloquent President to simply make the same case more forcefully and more frequently.  The result is the further diminution of the Obama’s popularity and, after a momentary halt, further erosion of support for the particular reforms Democrats are pushing.

We know that the White House and other leading Democrats firmly believe that all this opposition is the result of a nefarious campaign of lies and “scare tactics,” engineered by the GOP, the insurance industry, talk radio, the Trilateral Commission and the Freemasons in order to preserve the lucrative status quo.  This position is so discredited by both facts and logic that it does not merit an additional debunking here.  It is the reaction to this belief by Democrats that now must be considered.

Whether opponents have manipulated public opinion in a dishonest way or not, it is clear that public opinion has changed dramatically.  So what do you do about it?  Do you express any appreciation for the public’s concerns?  Do you validate any criticism?  Do you engage in good faith negotiations starting with any real concessions?  Absolutely not.  The Democrats’ reaction is that of the quintessential ugly American abroad.  When those stupid foreigners don’t understand what you are saying, just say it louder and they’ll get the message.  This boorish and condescending behavior is having the same effect on the American public that it has on people across the globe.

The White House on January 20 switched into full-time transmit mode.  Only outgoing messages could clog up the information pipeline.  So cocksure is this administration that their cause is righteous and their policies perfect, that listening is not necessary and actually hearing anything is simply impossible.  Even when the President caved on the public option, he never admitted that it may not be the best policy choice and he never reached out to the GOP to leverage it as part of real negotiations.  He jettisoned the public option in response to opposition from BlueDog Democrats. Yet, Obama still raves about how great it is in his speeches–before mentioning that he can live without it.

Since the health care debate began in earnest, the messages of the administration and Congressional Democrats have not changed in any meaningful way.  Strategically, the White House would be better served to acknowledge and validate the opposition and look for opportunities for engagement.  Right now, Obama needs to look like a leader and a statesman rather than a petulant child.  Countless pundits have called for a “plan B” or “hitting the reset button.”  But the messages remain simple—our proposal is best and opposition to it is morally wrong.  More of Barack Obama saying the same thing with a healthy new dollop of condescension and scolding thrown in would not be the first choice of most communications strategists in such a situation.

Coming forward with a true centrist proposal that would enrage leftists and fail to satisfy the far right could win significant support and serve as a foundation for a more modest but still significant reform package.  But this White House seems only wired for conflict.  And the “my way or the highway” approach is threatening to destroy this presidency.

Early this year, Republicans up against the new president feared that they would lose scores of House members and several Senators on many major issues in Congress.  But in spite of Obama’s silver tongue, it is his tin ear that prevents the administration from hearing the public and adjusting its policies and messages accordingly.  This formula has formed the basis for a resurgent Republican Party leveraging public resentment at liberal overreach.


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Posted Sep 28th 2009 at 10:20 am in Congress, Healthcare, Obama, Politics | 66 Comments