James A. Morone: On Healthcare, Democrats Should Channel Harry Truman
[James A. Morone is chair of political science at Brown University and the author, with David Blumenthal, of "The Heart of Power: Health and Politics in the Oval Office."]
What do the Democrats do now? After chasing healthcare reform since 1935, they finally had it in their grasp until Massachusetts elected Republican Scott Brown to fill Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's seat. Jittery Democrats promptly ran for cover; gleeful Republicans saw a shot at getting their congressional majorities back. Jettisoning healthcare after a full year -- make that after 75 years -- raises a killer question for the campaign trail: Do the Democrats stand for anything? A week after Massachusetts, they're still pouring over strategies -- how and whether to push healthcare reform through. What Democrats need more than a strategy is a history lesson and a story line.
For the history, turn to two healthcare losers -- presidents Harry Truman and Bill Clinton. After their plans went down, the two men chose very different directions -- at precisely the fork in today's political road.
Truman submitted his healthcare plan in 1946 to mighty cries of "socialism!" So many groups lined up to blast the proposal that Congress extended its hearings and then buried the plan. The Democrats lost their congressional majorities, and Truman went into the 1948 reelection campaign polling below 30%.
If ever there was a time to retreat on healthcare, this was it. Instead, Truman (who had been, as he put it, "a dub of a speaker") found his voice. He passionately embraced the policies he cared about, especially national health insurance. Fifteen times a day on his long, famous whistle-stop tour he would rise and scorch the medical lobbies and their congressional pals. Truman, of course, won that election. He never came close on healthcare reform, but he kept on fighting. As a result, he left his party a legacy, an ideal to fight for.
When Medicare passed, 15 years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he would fly to Missouri and sign the bill in front of Harry. Nervous aides fretted about echoes of "socialism," but LBJ brushed them aside. There would be no Medicare without Truman, he insisted. As Johnson put his pen to the paper at the Truman Library in Independence, he looked at his predecessor and said: "Many men can make proposals, [and] many men can draft laws. . . . But few have the courage to stake reputation . . . and the effort of a lifetime upon a cause."...
And here we are again. Democrats contemplate scaling back or walking away. Instead, they ought to channel their inner Trumans. Find a voice. Explain why they believe in reform. After all, why would people vote for a party without a cause?...
Programs do not make great presidents -- just ask Johnson, who passed a ton of them. Stories make great presidents. The Franklin Roosevelts and Ronald Reagans reshape public perceptions -- about policies, about government, about America's purpose in the world....
Parties prosper when they connect their passions and their principles to their policies. Remembering that could save healthcare reform -- and the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. Forgetting it makes the majorities irrelevant, even if they manage to hang on to them.
Read entire article at LA Times
What do the Democrats do now? After chasing healthcare reform since 1935, they finally had it in their grasp until Massachusetts elected Republican Scott Brown to fill Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's seat. Jittery Democrats promptly ran for cover; gleeful Republicans saw a shot at getting their congressional majorities back. Jettisoning healthcare after a full year -- make that after 75 years -- raises a killer question for the campaign trail: Do the Democrats stand for anything? A week after Massachusetts, they're still pouring over strategies -- how and whether to push healthcare reform through. What Democrats need more than a strategy is a history lesson and a story line.
For the history, turn to two healthcare losers -- presidents Harry Truman and Bill Clinton. After their plans went down, the two men chose very different directions -- at precisely the fork in today's political road.
Truman submitted his healthcare plan in 1946 to mighty cries of "socialism!" So many groups lined up to blast the proposal that Congress extended its hearings and then buried the plan. The Democrats lost their congressional majorities, and Truman went into the 1948 reelection campaign polling below 30%.
If ever there was a time to retreat on healthcare, this was it. Instead, Truman (who had been, as he put it, "a dub of a speaker") found his voice. He passionately embraced the policies he cared about, especially national health insurance. Fifteen times a day on his long, famous whistle-stop tour he would rise and scorch the medical lobbies and their congressional pals. Truman, of course, won that election. He never came close on healthcare reform, but he kept on fighting. As a result, he left his party a legacy, an ideal to fight for.
When Medicare passed, 15 years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he would fly to Missouri and sign the bill in front of Harry. Nervous aides fretted about echoes of "socialism," but LBJ brushed them aside. There would be no Medicare without Truman, he insisted. As Johnson put his pen to the paper at the Truman Library in Independence, he looked at his predecessor and said: "Many men can make proposals, [and] many men can draft laws. . . . But few have the courage to stake reputation . . . and the effort of a lifetime upon a cause."...
And here we are again. Democrats contemplate scaling back or walking away. Instead, they ought to channel their inner Trumans. Find a voice. Explain why they believe in reform. After all, why would people vote for a party without a cause?...
Programs do not make great presidents -- just ask Johnson, who passed a ton of them. Stories make great presidents. The Franklin Roosevelts and Ronald Reagans reshape public perceptions -- about policies, about government, about America's purpose in the world....
Parties prosper when they connect their passions and their principles to their policies. Remembering that could save healthcare reform -- and the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. Forgetting it makes the majorities irrelevant, even if they manage to hang on to them.