OF2-11/04/09 7:25 AM
A POST-ELECTION PROGNOSIS FOR HEALTH CARE.
The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood.
Although President Obama campaigned for the losing gubernatorial candidate in both New Jersey and Virginia, the White House can point to exit polls that say Obama was not a factor in either state.
But political analyst Larry Sabato begs to differ, especially in his own state. He's a political science professor at the University of Virginia.
SOT - Prof. Larry Sabato, University of Virginia
"President Obama was a factor here. I don't care what exit polls ask or what they reveal about what people supposedly say concerning the President. If you went out and you talked to real voters, you found that many of these Republicans who were motivated to come out were anti-Obama: they were upset about the stimulus, they were upset about overspending, they were upset about health care, they were upset about cap and trade. And that's what produced this electorate."
Larry, after weeks of agreeing with President Obama about how urgent it is to get health care voted on, right away...
SOT - President Barack Obama, back in July
"We've talked this problem to death, year after year."
...Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid came out yesterday, and said...
SOT - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada
"We're not going to be bound by any timelines..."
Although President Obama wants health care voted on immediately, if not sooner...
SOT - President Barack Obama, back in July
"I want this done, now ... Now, if there are no deadlines, nothing gets done in this town..."
...Suddenly, Harry Reid now says...
SOT - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
"We're going to do this legislation as expeditiously as we can, but we're going to do it as fairly as we can also."
Better be careful, says Larry Sabato.
SOT - Prof. Larry Sabato
"There will be plenty of bumps along the road. But they want to make sure that their activists are excited come 2010. If they didn't pass health care, they would depress Democratic turnout --- and they would have a rout in 2010 probably like 1994 --- when Republicans took over Congress at the end of the first two years of the Clinton Administration."
The Osgood File. Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
The Osgood File. November 4th, 2009. |
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