Bob Dole to Obama – Get it together,bro!
Who would have thought it? Some of the best advice I’ve seen or heard in a long time has escaped the pen of ex-senate majority leader, ex-vice-presidential candidate, ex-presidential candidate and GOP stalwart and icon, Bob Dole.
In an op-ed written for Monday’s Washington Post, Dole took Obama to task – not for his politics or his programs, but for his reluctance to take charge of the critical health care reform debate.
Many of us were taught that the president proposes and Congress disposes. Today, Congress is doing both — with the president relegated to the role of cheerleader in chief as he campaigns for various House committees’ efforts. Certainly, Obama supports much in these proposals — but Barack Obama is our president, not a commentator.
Obama’s approval numbers would jump 10 points if Americans knew he was fully in charge. A tactical move of introducing his own plan would also stir more Republicans to become active for reform in critical areas. Right now the president’s biggest problem is with congressional Democrats, who are split and searching for a way out of the medical wilderness.
VIA WASHINGTON POST
So here’s a few words I never thought I would say – Bob Dole is right.
Dole offers up this assessment in support of his argument that Obama should have his own healthcare reform bill sitting on the desks of Congress when they return from break next week, ready for introduction by the Democratic leaders of the Senate and the House. That strikes me a pretty damn good idea. Clearly, the whole “let Congress do it” thing has not worked out very well.
Where Sen. Dole goes a bit off course is when he argues the importance of passing a bipartisan plan.
A bipartisan ending will have more credibility with the American people. Indeed, most important legislation in U.S. history has had broad bipartisan support. As a supporter of bipartisan health reform, I hope the president has gotten some rest in the past week. I also hope he puts the final touches on his own health bill. I’d bet a bottle of aspirin that it would cure many of his headaches.
I agree that an Obama originated plan might cure a few migraines. I know it would do wonders for my own. However, the suggestion that most important legislation in our history had broad bipartisan support is not necessarily instructive with respect to our current circumstances.
It is true that both Medicare and Social Security garnered a substantial number of Republican votes back in their time. But things were very different then. It was a time when both the House and Senate had a large number of progressive and moderate Republicans whom supported FDR and LBJ on quite a bit of legislation. Indeed, in those days, it was the conservative Southern democrats who tended to stand in the way of progress. Today, we have a total of two such moderate Republicans in the Senate and they both live in Maine. As for the House, you would be hard pressed to count the GOP moderates on one hand.
We now know that there will be no bipartisan support for healthcare reform, so let’s set that part of Dole’s piece aside and focus on the good advice.
Bob Dole says get a grip, Obama. And Bob Dole knows politics.
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