Beating Democrats is tough. They're organized, dedicated, and they've got lots of spare time. That came into play recently when Republicans tried to repeal Obamacare. Republicans bore most of the blame for that unsuccessful attempt. But Democrats were working hard behind the scenes. See Louise Radnofsky's article, How Democrats Aided in the Demise of the GOP’s Health Bill. (Behind paywall. Possibly still archived here. Excerpts:
And it was former leaders from the Obama White House, Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services who worked on many parts of the successful behind-the-scenes campaign to chip away at the GOP majority, tapping old relationships, data and experience of the bitter passions sparked by a health-policy debate to keep Republicans’ rifts fresh.
Together, they worked the Republican governors, who were lukewarm to the GOP bill, and the centrist Republicans from swing districts, many of whom withheld support from the bill last Friday and contributed to its withdrawal from the House floor.
“It’s like breathing for a number of these people,” said Chris Jennings, a Democratic health-policy consultant who served in the Clinton and Obama White Houses, of his colleagues’ work. “They are huge assets who are being tapped. It has been their lives and they know the policy, process and politics inside out.”
Ms. Radnofsky provides a cast of characters, then this:
Other senior figures called and texted one another, exchanged ideas, and provided updates on what they were doing after they cleared out their desks. Many of their key assistants followed them, deferring finding “real jobs” for weeks or months.
(Emphasis added by me.)
Proponents of the leftist agenda are highly motivated, and they've got nothing better to do. Do the rest of us have a chance? We'll need to stay vigilant.
1:30 PM 4/6/2017
Comments