As I awoke this morning and was pondering the speech anew…something hit me. Maybe the aim wasn’t to “give details” as the White House contended publicly…perhaps it was to up the ante. Think about what was said in the speech last night:

1. We need to include malpractice reform (a key pillar of the Republican plans for healthcare)

2. We need to include a provision for people who can’t get health insurance to be able to buy into basic care immediately (a provision favored by Sen. John McCain during the campaign), while the health insurance exchange is given time to develop.

3. Ted Kennedy worked with many on the other side of the aisle to get key healthcare and other social justice initiatives passed…why can’t we achieve his final wish?

Maybe the purpose of the speech was to say to Republicans…go ahead, keep opposing the plan, but we’re going to add enough of your ideas to the mix to be able to say that you voted against things you say you believe in. And not just one token provision, but a couple of major pillars of your plan. So, maybe instead of opposing this you should be trying to shape what those provisions will look like.

Granted, Democratic leadership in Congress will have to extend the same hand as the president to those on the other side of the aisle who are willing to work, and I think they will (and if they don’t I will be extremely disappointed). The question left unanswered is whether there will be Republicans to reach back in return.

In addition, you have the Rep. Wilson problem…the anger and vitriol that has been expressed at some town hall meetings and been dismissed as just “citizens expressing their free speech rights” finally carried over into a venue where everyone can acknowledge it was inappropriate (though some of us have been arguing that in any venue it is not the way to conduct a debate). We don’t know what the ultimate fall-out will be, but the outcry over his behavior seems to have legs.

UPDATE: I know regular readers are shocked that my friend Jennifer Foster had a similar reaction last night. No, I didn’t read it until AFTER I wrote this post.

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