In the House, the view of [California Rep. Henry] Waxman and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi is that we've waited two generations to get health care passed, and the 20 or 40 members of Congress who are going to lose their seats as a result are transitional players at best...This is something the party has wanted since Franklin Roosevelt.
So they're doing it for the grandeur? I can't believe it. Politicians want to win elections. Plain and simple. They might thing health care is the greatest thing they could ever accomplish, but if it doesn't put them back in Congress next year, they don't want to do it. His source continues:
At the White House, the picture is slightly different...Their view is, 'We're all in on this, totally committed, and we don't have to run for re-election next year. There will never be a better time to do it than now. And in the Senate, they look at the most vulnerable Democrats -- like [Christopher] Dodd and [Majority Leader Harry] Reid -- and say those vulnerabilities will probably not change whether health care reform passes or fails. So in that view, if they pass reform, Democrats will lose the same number of seats they were going to lose before.I still don't believe it. It'll take more than a historic presidency to cause politicians to jeopardize their own jobs for the sake of a bigger cause. It'll take magic.