I don’t even know where to start. Would it be too petty to note that he doesn’t seem to understand what “reverse psychology” is? If the GOP truly feared the electoral consequences of passage — which, per every poll taken in the last six months, is simply insane to suggest — then a reverse-psychology strategy would be to make Democrats suspicious of passing it by encouraging them to do so, no? That’s where the “reverse” part comes from — urging someone to act in the opposite way that you really want them to act. If there’s any reverse psychology actually being practiced these days, which I doubt, it would be that the GOP secretly wants the Dems to pass this boondoggle because doing so might deliver Congress into their hands.
Beyond that, how might we apply this strategic logic to bills the Democrats opposed when the GOP was in the majority? Did they block Bush’s stab at social security reform only because they feared it might work and would spur Republicans to new heights of popularity? Actually … that makes perfect sense.
The looming question is when, precisely, Harkin expects the public’s fee-vah for O-Care to finally break out. Howard Dean was wringing his hands just this morning that it’s nuts to pass a bill this huge, whose costs are well known, when the benefits (or rather, most of the benefits) don’t kick in for years to come. I look forward to Harkin’s vindication circa 2016, after the GOP’s controlled the House for six years.
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