Notes of a Puzzled Wannabe Mobster

By Leslie S. Lebl

OK, I haven’t actually attended a town hall meeting (like many conservatives, I’m very hard to mobilize). I have, however, been following the debate from the privacy of my home (although if my emails are forwarded to the White House, you can say goodbye to that concept). I’d like to contribute several questions to the debate in hopes that someone will answer them:

Everyone’s talking about the ObamaCare health proposals, including White House spokesperson Linda Douglass, but what is the Administration’s plan? After all, Obama never submitted a legislative proposal to Congress, presumably because he felt that it would present too much of a target (with both Houses of Congress overwhelmingly Democratic, that analysis in itself is odd, but let it pass). Douglass is right that the Administration needs to present its facts and rebut false statements – but that’s exactly what it has thus far refused to do.

Aren’t there any Democratic politicians, operatives, advisors, policymakers, or public relations experts who know that name-calling is dumb? I mean, at least a handful? I have many Democratic friends who know the value of courtesy and professional conduct, but they don’t seem to be represented in the upper echelons of the party.

Do politicians who refuse to meet with their constituents really think that, come November 2010, those constituents will vote for them?

If the Democratic leadership maintains its current approach and both health care and energy legislation crash and burn in the fall, just what is going to be left of the prestige and authority of the Presidency? I may oppose these proposals, but I want a strong U.S. president. These are dangerous times, and we can’t afford three years with a lame duck at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Does Obama realize how much his future depends on how he responds to opposition to his policies? Does he have any idea how close he is to the edge of the cliff?