I saw Ed Schultz editorialize on MSNBC a moment ago. He alluded to the despondency of the signals the Obama administration was sending to the press back in January.
Just as it felt like the momentum of 2008-2009 was petering out, the President's town hall meeting with the House Republican Caucus breathed new life into comprehensive HCR legislation. And it was the enthusiasm and support the Democratic base showed that nurtured a spark into a fire - and the Democratic Party responded to our pressure with action!
Rahm Emanuel had even talked about breaking HCR into several separate bills. For a while, it even seemed like he may even resign. But now the momentum is firmly back with the Democrats, and we don't need to form a circular firing squad just as the enemy is retreating. Jim DeMint wanted to turn this debate into a nineteenth century military analogy, but it didn't turn out to be Waterloo. It was Grant's Overland Campaign.
The Overland Campaign was the signature series of battles that resulted in Lee surrendering his Army of Northern Virginia to Grant's Army of the Potomac. It all began with the Battle of the Wilderness, which historian James A. McPherson described as follows:
Both flanks had been badly bruised, and [Grant's] 17,500 casualties in two days exceeded the Confederate total by at least 7,000. Under such circumstances previous Union commanders in Virginia had withdrawn behind the nearest river. Men in the ranks expected the same thing to happen again. But Grant had told Lincoln "whatever happens, there will be no turning back."
While the armies skirmished warily on May 7, Grant prepared to march around Lee’s right during the night to seize the crossroads village of Spotsylvania a dozen miles to the south. If successful, this move would place the Union Army closer to Richmond than the enemy and force Lee to fight or retreat. All day Union supply wagons and the reserve artillery moved to the rear, confirming the soldiers’ weary expectation of retreat. After dark the blue divisions pulled out one by one.
But instead of heading north, they turned south. A mental sunburst brightened their minds. It was not "another Chancellorsville...another skedaddle" after all. "Our spirits rose," recalled one veteran who remembered this moment as a turning point in the war. Despite the terrors of the past three days and those to come, "we marched free. The men began to sing." For the first time in a Virginia campaign the Army of the Potomac stayed on the offensive after its initial battle.
Like Ulysses Grant, the Democratic base's unwillingness to accept losses, intimidation, and long odds drove an army forward - perhaps farther than it thought it could. In the end, a seasoned group of people comfortable in their expectations was thrown for a loop from which they never recovered.
Like Grant throughout the Overland Campaign, we progressives must push forward! We must continue to outflank the enemy now that we have the higher ground and they are retreating!
And, like the Army of the Potomac, we can finally sing.