Political Courage

People always say they want politicians to do what’s right, even if it’s unpopular. Of course, they mean: unpopular with somebody else.
 
Still, by that standard, Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi showed a rare level of political guts and perseverance in pushing through health-care reform.
 
Remember two months ago? Scott Brown had just won in Massachusetts. Health-care reform was declared dead.
 
But Obama and Pelosi pushed ahead – despite Republican obstructionism, Tea Party hysteria and a flood of lies, deception and misrepresentation.
 
Now, supposedly, will come the Great Reckoning in November. But I remain skeptical that the November election will be about what happened yesterday. I doubt Democrats will lose much more ground than they would anyway in the natural cycle of politics.
 
Plus, Obama and Pelosi have given Democrats a big political win. It contains specific changes that people will like. They gave Democrats something concrete to campaign on.
 
They did what they thought was right. Even if it was unpopular with some people.
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Gary Pearce

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Political Courage

People always say they want politicians to do what’s right, even if it’s unpopular. Of course, they mean: unpopular with somebody else.
 
Still, by that standard, Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi showed a rare level of political guts and perseverance in pushing through health-care reform.
 
Remember two months ago? Scott Brown had just won in Massachusetts. Health-care reform was declared dead.
 
But Obama and Pelosi pushed ahead – despite Republican obstructionism, Tea Party hysteria and a flood of lies, deception and misrepresentation.
 
Now, supposedly, will come the Great Reckoning in November. But I remain skeptical that the November election will be about what happened yesterday. I doubt Democrats will lose much more ground than they would anyway in the natural cycle of politics.
 
Plus, Obama and Pelosi have given Democrats a big political win. It contains specific changes that people will like. They gave Democrats something concrete to campaign on.
 
They did what they thought was right. Even if it was unpopular with some people.
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Gary Pearce

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