Instead of going on every news show on television and screaming about the Republican filibuster in the same way the Republicans scream about teleprompters, "Democrat Party," and "government takeovers," the Democrats did... what? Not much of anything really.
Smart.
At the same time, the Democrats were contemplating a bit of clever politics this week by tricking the Republicans into voting on Rep. Paul Ryan's so-called "shadow budget," which calls for privatizing Medicare and Social Security. Forcing the Republicans to vote on privatizing Social Security and Medicare is a terrific idea, of course. But let's say the Democrats were to go forward with such a plan. Who's going to know about it? Those of us in the blogosphere. People who watch Morning Joe, maybe. But will your neighbor? Or that co-worker who doesn't know which party to support right now? Probably not, because the Democrats probably wouldn't get loud about it.
And what of the president's big health care summit? If the White House successfully calls the Republican bluff, and they back out, will the White House get loud about it? I don't know. Maybe now that David Plouffe is back in the fold. But so far, they haven't been as effective as they could be with making a big deal out of the Republican nincompoopery and contradictions. (Question Time, to their credit, was a big step in the right direction.)
All told, the Democrats are generally on the right side of these fights, and their opponents are handing them pure political gold. Epic win material. Yet, instead of capitalizing on it, they're remaining silent and acquiescing to a marginalized, obstructionist party.
Crank it up, boys, or get ready for disaster in November.
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