Would you buy from this man?

Whether you agree with him or disagree, former Sec. of Labor Robert Reich is s someone you can disagree with but still respect. He values his reputation for his honesty. So when he tells you that Obama's base is passive and unmotivated to do much of anything in regard to Healthcare Reform, you listen.

First, why Obama can't sell Obamacare.

Obama's political advisers are trying to do exactly the reverse -- using the president's personal popularity to sell policies, much as Madison Avenue uses trusted personalities to promote products. Obama's town meetings have been enormously successful; he's fielded questions well, and showed himself to be every bit as thoughtful and engaging as he was during the presidential campaign. But the politics of product endorsement aren't working terribly well nonetheless.

He acknowledges that Democrats are uneasy, some cynical (imagine that in a Democrat) about the policies. But, they aren't acting in concert because they're passive.

The widening gap between admiration for Obama and cynicism about his policies also reinforces passivity in Obama's base, which makes it even harder to advance a specific agenda. His presidential campaign strengthened the nation's political grass roots and spawned hope for a new era of public engagement, but Obama's reluctance to fight for any specifics is causing the base to lose interest. Neither the Freds who trust him nor the Sallies who have become cynical are motivated to do much of anything.

-----------------------------
With all due respect to Mr. Reich, the problem isn't passivity on the part of the president nor his followers. It's Silence of the Lambs, followers who are accustomed to being led by their emotions and a political party that capitalizes on the blind trust of decent people.

When Democrats don't show in numbers up in support of Obamacare, it's because they don't know what Healthcare Reform means. They aren't dumb. Like those of us who are opposed to the gutting of our health care system on the whims of politicians who can't be bothered to read the bills or know how to explain the details, Democrats are leery.

We all are.

But Obama isn't "keeping distance from the specifics" because it has been a wise tactic. It's true that "both Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter got too far into specifics and paid a high price on health care when Congress wrested back ownership."

The reason Obama won't (up to now) separate his approval ratings from worries about the legislation is because he thinks he doesn't have to. He's depending on the media and Congressional Democrats to carry the ball. He doesn't want to squander his popularity less than nine months into his term.

It's debatable whether his popularity is enough to win the argument when, as Reich pointed out himself on August 12, what has he got to sell?

Mainly because there's still no healthcare plan. All we have are some initial markups from several congressional committees, which differ from one another in significant ways. The White House is waiting to see what emerges from the House and Senate before insisting on what it wants, maybe in conference committee.

Robert Reich wrote that. Yet, Reich thinks the Sallies are "cynics" when they have the same reservations Reich has about buying off phamaceutical companies, health insurers, and the AMA. That's being hypocritical. All of us should be worried about those corporate interests and shady deals and signing onto a "reform" of our preferred health system when absolutely no one knows what that "reform" will entail.

Democrats strategists don't know even know what to call their new program. One day it is Healthcare Reform. Then, when it's obvious that they are intent on taking over the entire system, it becomes Health Overhaul. Then it is Insurance Reform. God, knows what they will call it next. Whatever it is, we shouldn't buy it.