Massachusetts Massacre

I haven't heard anyone mention the irony that MA happens to be the first state in the country to dabble in socialized medicine, when Dukakis was the governor in the 80s. This on top of the irony many have mentioned that Kennedy himself was a life-long champion of major healthcare reform. Now a late surge by a conservative candidate (in moderate clothes for the election) could jeopardize the bill only weeks after it looked like a foregone conclusion. Republicans are emboldened and the recriminations among democrats have begun. The most troubling discourse that has emerged, even as there appears to be some truth in it, is among the old New Democrat ilk (aka Clintonites). They argue that Obama has gone too far to the left and we should return to the fiscal responsibility and "liberal" agenda of the Clinton years. Um, sounds great, except we are now in the throes of a financial crisis and Clinton's nod to conservative economics helped put us where we are today. Given the reptilian backdone Democrats have had since the mid-80s, I'm afraid these voices of false moderation may win out and the party move back further to a center that has been moving right for the better part of 30 years. Can Obama find the will to challenge this push? It's hard to believe he will, given his record to date. But you never know. Many Presidents rise to the call that a moment ushers in. Let's hope he choses the more radical course (which is really just a moderate retro-70s disco move away). The real problem, as I've been writing about in this blog intermittently for some time, is the continued resonance of the small government discourse. Someone needs to challenge it, and the only one who seems able at the moment is Obama himself. Let's hope he gets back to those moving speeches that won him the election in the first place.