Hardball: Debating Obama's Healthcare Acheivement

Pat Buchanan makes some good points about Harry Reid, yes, I can't believe I'm saying that either. But Buchanan points out that in September, Reid had 61 votes for the public option with a trigger, the precise option the President was pushing hard for. But the liberal base refused to compromise, and therefore the public option got killed because Reid included the full opt-out public option in the bill. Furthermore, as Joan Walsh is pointing out, President Obama always did say he preferred a public option on the campaign trail, but he also always qualified it by saying it wasn't a line in the sand. There were many dust ups during the campaign and at the start of his term because he pointedly refused to draw a line in the sand on a public plan. He only said that healthcare reform must create competition, and he believes the best way to do that is a public option. Liberals are treating it like he drew a line in the sand, which is something he was very conscious to avoid.

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