The Atlantic’s Ron Brownstein pours through the data and concludes “a difficult 2010 election for Democrats could turn catastrophic.” My own view is that if Democrats pass health-care legislation — and the most recent CNN poll shows that only 36 percent favor the Senate bill, while 61 percent oppose it (79 percent said the bill would increase the deficit, and 85 percent said the bill would increase their taxes) — it will make that outcome more, not less, likely.

ObamaCare is one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation we have seen in quite a long time; it borders on being radioactive. It also happens to be what Democrats, including Obama, are pinning their political hopes to. It is an amazing predicament Democrats find themselves in: they will suffer if they don’t pass health-care legislation; and they may well suffer more if they do.

The heady days of early 2009 have given way to deep concern as Democrats look to 2010. As some of us warned when the president took office and Obama was viewed as a demigod by many in the political class, governing is harder than campaigning. But we didn’t imagine it would be quite this hard quite this soon.

+ A A -
You may also like
Share via
Copy link