True North

Once again, Jim Geraghty proves that his posts are must-reading for conservative activists with this post. Yesterday, Obama administration uber-flacks David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs insisted that they'd love running on the health care issue. Geraghty's post highlights the fact that Virginia's Democrats aren't quite as enthusiastic as Mssrs. Axelrod and Gibbs:

That's funny, neither of my senators, Democrats Jim Webb and Mark Warner, have anything about the health care bill on their Senate home pages.They talk about jobs, the military, crime, Haiti earthquake rescue teams - just about everything but the health care bill. And neither of these guys is up for reelection this year.

Let's take a look at the congressmen here in Virginia who are likely to face tough races this fall: Gerry Connolly of Fairfax County? Nope, nothing on the home page of his House site. Rick Boucher, of the state's western corner? Nope, nothing on his House site's main page. Glenn Nye of Virginia Beach? Nope, nothing on his front page, either.

A couple days ago, I talked with a couple friends of my friends about the Democrats' health care legislation in the context of whether Democratic candidates would distance themselves from the subject. This article in The Hill Magazine not only tells me the answer is yes. It tells me that the answer is an emphatic yes:

Hardly any Democrat running for Congress seems to want to talk about healthcare.

Of the 26 leading Democratic House candidates contacted by The Hill, only one would commit to voting for the Senate healthcare bill if and when it comes to the House floor. Out of the more than two dozen Democratic challengers and open-seat House candidates, only 10 commented for this story. Eight outright declined to comment.

Eight more didn't respond to several days' worth of requests via phone and e-mail.

TRANSLATION: Democratic candidates are treating the subject like it's radioactive waste. They want nothing to do with it.

President Obama and Speaker Pelosi got some sober advice from two old pro Democratic pollsters in Friday morning's Washington Post. Here's the advice the White House and House Democrats should pay most of their attention to:

First, the battle for public opinion has been lost. Comprehensive health care has been lost. If it fails, as appears possible, Democrats will face the brunt of the electorate's reaction. If it passes, however, Democrats will face a far greater calamitous reaction at the polls. Wishing, praying or pretending will not change these outcomes.

Nothing has been more disconcerting than to watch Democratic politicians and their media supporters deceive themselves into believing that the public favors the Democrats' current health-care plan. Yes, most Americans believe, as we do, that real health-care reform is needed. And yes, certain proposals in the plan are supported by the public.

Starting today, I will be doing a weekly update on the trends I'm seeing. I'll also be writing about noteworthy articles that go at the heart of this November's elections. This Doug Schoen op-ed is one worth reading because it talks to the seemingly few sane people left in the Democratic Party. Here's what Schoen wrote that I emphatically agree with:

If the president decides to forgo compromise and move forward with his original bill, only two things could happen; both spell political disaster for Democrats. He could fail, with moderate Democrats voting "nay" out of fear of political pushback. In that case, Obama would look incredibly weak. Health care has been the defining issue of his presidency so far. And the perception of inefficacy could cost Democrats control of both chambers in November.