I believe that the fate of the Democratic Party is now at risk and it has come down to our ability and willingness to pass significant health care reform as was promised during the last 2 election cycles.
We can all look back over the past 10 years and see exactly how the Republicans lost their power...they basically supported a President and Vice President regardless of their own beliefs and felt they were for the most part invincible. Rove was the hero and the permanent majority was a real possibility. How quickly those glory years faded when the truths started to be uncovered about the Iraq war and all of the lies and misinformation that came from the Bush White House. Today Republicans have paid a heavy price for their support and loyalty to a failed cause and depending on how Democrats handle the next few years we are actually faced with the possibility of not being in power for many years to come. The Republicans know this and that is exactly why they have no choice but to become the party of NO and continue to block all attempts at legislation that will benefit the nation. The only way Republicans can return to power is through the ineffective legislature of the Democratic Party!
Now here we are in late 2009 and we are faced with a dilemma. Do we support the President who was elected on promises of progressive reform in areas such as health care, immigration and national security? It is my belief that this is the defining moment. If the Democrats can’t find a way to get significant health care reform passed, with or without the Republicans, then we too will face the ultimate fate of the electorate and over the next few election cycles will fall out of power. One could ask how this could happen given the gains that have been made in only a few short years. The problem is that the Democrats are ultimately afraid of their own success. We seem unwilling to do what we know is right for fear that it might fail...or be perceived as failure from our Republican counterparts. The irony here is that in their eyes we have already failed!! If healthcare does not get reformed now then we will be seen as the party that couldn’t manage our majority to pass anything meaningful and will probably cause the ultimate failure of such a promising president. If we do pass significant healthcare the Republicans are still going to say it was a failure and try to use anything and everything to show that they were right.
So what are we to do? It’s so very simple yet our supposedly brilliant politicians can’t seem to understand it. Pass significant healthcare reform, with a public option, let the benefits of the program reach the intended targets and almost by default we will continue to carry or broaden our majorities in both houses and the next presidential cycle. Every single American will be touched by this legislation and the good will so far outweigh the bad that even the Republicans will struggle to show how this has been a bad policy. The Iraq War was easy for us to run against...it was a colossal failure. If we can’t run on our successes rather than the other party’s failures then how in the world do expect to stay in power?
It is time to leave the Republicans on the side of the road and move this bus forward! We have the votes and we have the support from the nation. The LOUDEST of the population does not represent the MAJORITY of the population! It is clear to everyone involved in this struggle that we need reform and we need it now. So what are we waiting on? We will not pass the perfect program...but we can implement meaningful reform that will change the landscape for decades to come. Then while we continue to maintain or grow our majorities we can tweak it along the way. But if we pass meaningless reform or do nothing then we are basically handing our future back to the Republicans and I honestly don’t think we can stand many more years of that type of leadership.