Details Kill

Friday's Rush Morning Update:
Dateline: 24 July 2009

"Back when Obama was still president-elect, I warned you what was coming with health care reform. Obama's point man back then was Tom Daschle, former senate majority leader (and soon-to-be-discovered tax-cheat).

In December, I told you the strategy that Tom Daschle advised Obama to implement. Daschle was convinced that the reason Clinton's health care takeover failed was because it was too detailed and took too long to debate in Congress. He urged Obama to go on offense immediately, while he had post-election goodwill.

But the big key to a successful government takeover of health care was keeping you in the dark. "Details kill," Dashchle said. "If we get too far in the weeds, if we produce a 1,500 or 1,600 page bill, we're going to get hung up on all the details and we're never going to get to the principles." Finally, Daschle said Congress must not divert attention elsewhere once debate began. "Let's not put it down and let it lie there for months and months and figure out a time when we can get back to it later," he advised.

And there you have the Obama health care playbook we see being implemented. Ram it through -- with few details -- and demand Congress act quickly, with no breaks. The only thing Obama didn't plan for was being caught "in the weeds" when you learned the details of what was in the bill. Not good for Obama and the Democrats... because not only can weeds kill you, but, in their case, so can "details." And they have.

And for now, it's dead. Not dead forever, but the vote before the August recess in the House and Senate has been killed. They're coming back, folks. They're not giving up, and we'll be ready for them when they do."

Rush's Reference:

AP: Obama hopes to avoid Clinton health care missteps