Freshmen Dems Waver on Health Care

The Prof · Aug 13, 2009

From The Financial Times, August 13, London morning daily paper

1. No surprise, they've been showing all the signs

2. These 2, Kratovil and Perriello (who have both received an awful lot of press the last week), are surely speaking for more than just themselves

3. Approximately 2/3 of freshman dems come from districts carried by McCain

4. The town halls obviously got to em, they know if they buck THAT crowd they're done, one termers

5. Perriello's from Virginia, a state that's about to elect a Republican governor (by a big margin, it looks like) in just over 10 weeks

6. New Jersey also hosts a gubernatorial on Nov 3, even more sure to change color

7. What the freshmen's news flash foretells---all that hassle in the house, Pelosi's place, all the worry and work in Waxman, all for naught

8. DEAD is the creature from lower congress

9. This is the FRESHMEN formation, we're talking, here, not the Bluedogs, don't confuse em

10. That is, the Dogs aint'a gonna be goin walkies on this, either

11. The USA Today poll this morning, the TALK of all TV today, was apparently the last straw

12. USA Today finds that rather than redounding against the protesters as a bunch of extremists, all the close coverage of the chaos has swelled their support

13. The backlash, in contrast, is against the White House and MSM for trying to DEMONIZE these representative, normal Americans

14. Amongst independents, 35% are now MORE amenable to the MOMS in the gyms, while only 16% side with those who find her unAmerican

15. Axelrod started an email campaign, which is going to be a story unto itself, but one for a different time

FT.com / US / Politics & Foreign policy - Newly elected Democrats waver on health plan

Two freshly elected Democrats are wavering in their support of healthcare reform, as a rancorous summer series of “town hall” debates appears to be hardening opposition against the Obama administration.

Frank Kratovil and Tom Perriello, who as freshmen congressmen would be expected to back the party leadership, both say proposals for expanding coverage to the uninsured are unacceptable in their current form and should focus more on cost savings.

Kratovil, who was hanged in effigy by a healthcare protester at a town hall meeting in his state of Maryland, said he would have voted against legislation if it had come to a vote last month.

Tom Perriello, another new representative from neighbouring Virginia, also says he is not yet ready to support the current proposals in the House of Representatives, partly because he is “still getting feedback from . . . constituents”.

In spite of hopes by proponents of reform that voters would be turned off by the sometimes ugly scenes, a poll yesterday from USA Today gave an indication that the debates were having the opposite effect.

Some 34 per cent of respondents said the demonstrations had made them more sympathetic to the protesters, while 21 per cent said they were less sympathetic. In the all-important independents grouping, 35 per cent against 16 per cent said they were now more sympathetic to the protesters – a margin of more than two to one.

The Obama administration was on Thursday attempting to regain the initiative with a self-described “chain” e-mail from the senior adviser David Axelrod, pointing to a series of “myths and facts” in the debate.

But the “myths” identified by David Axelrod, one of Mr Obama’s chief advisers, themselves highlight how the healthcare dispute has spilt out of the White House’s control.

The Prof