I want to recommend that everyone read the email we just got from a Senate staffer who will have to remain anonymous. Here’s one part of the email that stood out to me. The whole thing is after the jump …
The worst is that I can’t help but feel like the main emotion people in the caucus are feeling is relief at this turn of events. Now they have a ready excuse for not getting anything done. While I always thought we had the better ideas but the weaker messaging, it feels like somewhere along the line Members internalized a belief that we actually have weaker ideas. They’re afraid to actually implement them and face the judgement of the voters. That’s the scariest dynamic and what makes me think this will all come crashing down around us in November.
We’re currently having our daily afternoon editorial meeting. And man, I don’t think I’ve ever heard so much sarcasm, biting comments and just hilarity of a painful sort. Mainly coming from me.
I keep hearing various explanations of how and why House Dems and the folks at the White House aren’t deciding to scrap health care and do nothing. But it all seems to add up to they’re in the process of scrapping the health care bill and doing nothing.
It was clear for about a week that Martha Coakley was probably going to lose last night’s senate election. And anticipating that defeat we started talking about the ‘X Factor’, whether the shock or demoralization of a Massachusetts defeat would change the vote calculus in the House. But I really thought the problem was going to be on the right of the Democratic caucus — various Blue Dogs, Freshmen/Sophomores, Red State Dems, etc. But that does not seem to be what’s happening. According to Greg Sargent, a group of House liberals just met with Speaker Pelosi and told her categorically that they won’t vote for the Senate bill.
On the one hand, as David notes, I’m not sure how much weight we should put in that ‘categoricalness’ of the claim since the House progressives have crossed a bunch of lines they drew in the sand this year. But it shows you where they are.
And along the lines of the sort of denial these folks seem to be in, there’s this graf from Greg’s piece …
Tellingly, House liberals also urged Pelosi to consider passing individual pieces of reform through the House as individual bills, and sending them to the Senate to challenge the upper chamber to reject them, Grijalva tells me. Liberals said this approach would be preferable to passing the Senate bill.
They really do think they’re going to get another bite at the apple.
Our Brian Beutler just finished up an interview with Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA). And the congressman significantly walked back the statements he’d made over the last 20 hours or so saying that Health Care Reform was dead.
Brian’s article will be published momentarily.
Just after the interview was completed, Frank’s office released the following statement.
I have spoken today with a number of people, including Members of Congress and others, about what we should do next on health care. In those conversations I have realized that my statement last night was more pessimistic than is called for, although I still regard the fact that the Republicans have now elected a 41st Senator as a serious obstacle to getting health care done in a way in which I hope it can be.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) talks to TPM’s Brian Beutler, reverses course on saying reform is dead.
TPM Reader DM checks in with a question …
I’d be curious if you have any info from the hill on how much people are contacting congress over Health Care today. A lot of folks (including me) who live in liberal districts were sort of leaving it to Obama to push for reform. As long as he was there, what need was there for us to push someone who we knew was a reliable D vote. I contacted my rep (Zoe Lofgren) today for the first time (ever) and I doubt I’m the only one.
As to the question, I have no idea. We’ve been so focused today on figuring out which way the different members were leaning that I don’t think we heard one way or another what members were hearing from constituents.
TPM Reader GM checks in.
Regarding your most recent post, “No Need to Push,” I thought I would share my story.
I called up my congressman, Rep. Nadler, of the West Side of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn (I live on the Upper West Side). More than the MA Senate result, I was unhappy with his comment that you reported in this link
This email from TPM Reader AF really strikes a chord with me. Yesterday afternoon, we brainstormed a piece based on what two of our DC reporters were picking up on the Hill, which was that it really didn’t seem clear that the folks on the Hill were at all prepared for a Coakley defeat — which wasn’t certain but looked quite likely. And everything that happened over the last 24 hours confirms that perception. In some ways, what surprised me most about today was just how little real thought seems to have gone into what the plan or even the message would be Tuesday morning.
Am I the only one who has the feeling that this morning, the Democrats in DC are winging the PR message? As if, last night, they looked out, saw the carnage, and sometime between 9 PM and 9 AM tried to pencil in a few minutes to think about what they’re going to say?