I supported Clinton in the primaries until it became clear that she could not run a campaign. Then, I moved to the candidate who I felt was best able to run a campaign, and, I hoped, the White House: Barack Obama. I don't regret that decision; it was the right political decision then, and, frankly, it's the right decision now.
I guessed right. Barack Obama is exactly what he seemed: an extraordinary political operative with the capacity to get things done, and to deliver results. Make no mistake about it: we're seeing a very effective political operation on HCR, one that future generations will study. A President with a fractious majority and a unified opposition, with barely enough votes to win -- and at least one of those votes from an avowed traitor to the party -- is about to make history. LBJ had a far greater majority, as did FDR, and neither of them had a unified opposition; Obama, with a far weaker hand, has gone further and done more.
Let's be real about this: Obama has decided that this will be his legacy. And you know what? He's got a good chance to make it happen. I don't like it. It's inadequate, and doesn't solve a number of the festering problems that plague American health care. It will lead people to die who should live. It will leave the poor and disenfranchised ever more at the mercy of rapacious organized criminals that are the insurance firms.
It's not a bill I like, and there's no papering over that. Frankly, I'd like to be ashamed of Obama for pushing for it, but I can't be. Obama is another FDR or LBJ, a man who is obsessed with delivering legislation, not results. And, you know what? He's done just that.
In the grand tradition of the coalition which is the Democratic party, BHO has done the impossible; he will sign real health care reform during his first term in office. It sucks, and it betrays almost all of the principles for which I stand, yet it will happen.
And that's an amazing achievement.
Be careful what you wish for: you might get it.