WH to Democrats: Don’t “flip flop” on HCR

This is rich:

Two senior administration officials said the White House is telling Democrats reconsidering their support for health care reform that they will pay the price for their original vote no matter what happens, so they should reap the political benefits of actually passing a law.

There are 59 senators and 216 House members who put themselves on the record in support of the Democratic plan for health care reform. And the way the White House and Democratic leaders see it, they have little choice but to vote for it again: Think John Kerry, and his immortal words about an Iraq war appropriations bill – that he was for it before he was against it.

β€œFlip-flopping is dangerous in this business,” said a senior Senate Democratic aide familiar with the strategy.

This coming from a WH whose flip-flops are quickly becoming legendary? I’m literally laughing out loud.

Their argument really doesn’t make sense, though. What happened with Kerry is that he voted against funding for the troops before he ended up supporting it, and then tried to use his vote for it as a way to shore up his foreign policy creds. That was the problem and why his quote was used against him. You either support funding the troops or you don’t. It’s that simple. What the WH is saying here is that “regardless” of how wavering Dems vote on healthcare “reform,” that their “original vote” will be used against them. Seriously? Everytime a Congressional Democrat has switched their opinion/vote from being in favor of the current legislation to being against it, they are praised like crazy – as evidenced by what is seen on Twitter and on the webpages of Republican Senators and House members. They argue that those Dems have seen the light on the folly of ObamaCare and welcome them for joining them in opposition. About the only group Democrats who change their opinion on this to “anti” have to worry about would be left wing groups, including unions, who would use the vote switch to paint their fellow Dems as – yep – “flip-floppers.”

Essentially, this is the WH’s version of Pelosi’s “be willing to sacrifice your House seat for the greater good” plea. The arrogance of this tactic is astonishing, considering Pelosi is taking no political risk on this issue with her constituency and considering that Barack Obama won’t be up for re-election for a couple of years – and considering the fact that the bill wouldn’t take effect until 2014, two years after Barack Obama presumably gets re-elected.

Democrats asking others to make sacrifices that they themselves don’t have to worry about making. Imagine that! 8-|

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