The Big Question: Who will win support at the health reform summit?

Some of the nation’s top political commentators, legislators and
intellectuals offer their insight into the biggest question burning up
the blogosphere today.

Today’s question:

Which party will shine at Thursday’s healthcare summit?

See our live coverage of the healthcare summit here.

Bill Press, host of the “Bill Press Show” and a contributor to the Pundits Blog, said:

In any test of intellects, I’ll put my money on Barack Obama. And, so far, he’s dominating the debate and clearly knows the issue better than anybody else in the room, Republican or Democrat.

Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said:

Based on what I’ve seen so far: The Tea Party. A attacks B and B attacks A, so C benefits.

Hal Lewis, professor at UC Santa Barbara, said:

Neither. The day either party shines during a televised political confrontation, called by one side for the sole purpose of humiliating the other, will indeed be a day to remember.

Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com, said:

I don’t think either party will “shine,” as the question puts it. I thnk, however, that the Democrats are showing their weakness in faving to stage this confrontation at all. After all, aren’t they the majority party — and why can’t they seem to get their act together? If only the Dems could unify their own party around Obama’s healthcare program, then they wouldn’t have to go through this Kabuki theater act. 

Michelle Bernard, President of the Independent Women’s Forum, said:

Only Failure Will Make This Summit A Success
 
Neither party will shine during the White House summit, which is more likely to cause viewers to roll their eyes and flip the channel than get excited about health care reform. The only way that this summit will be a success is if it’s ineffectiveness finally convinces Congress to give up on its current legislative push and go back to the drawing board in terms of crafting a proposal.

The public has already expressed its disgust for the current proposals in every way it can – in the voting booths, in town hall meetings, and consistently to pollsters. One summit—even one that goes swimmingly from the Democrats’ perspective—isn’t going to change the consensus among the American people that these health care bills should be canned. The American people have listened to policymakers talk about health care reform; it’s time for Washington to start listening to the public and give up on this version of health care reform.

John Feehery, Pundits Blog Contributor, said:

Neither. This will be one long, long press event with no new news, no real breakthroughs, and no interesting rhetoric. It makes me sleepy just thinking about it.

Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.org, said:

If the press does adequate fact-checking, the Democrats will come out ahead.

John F. McManus, president of The John Birch Society, said:

Whichever party “shines” at the healthcare summit isn’t what should be the concern. The fact that federal officials are debating whether or not they should expand government’s already harmful presence in the medical field should be the concern of every American.

The John Birch Society has long been known for its slogan “GetUSout!” referring to the United Nations. The slogan can similarly be applied to the government’s intrusion in medicine where it has no business and no constitutional authorization.

Consider what FedGov has done to education (declining performance every year), housing (brought on the housing bubble and the recession), energy (now importing twice the energy products than when the department was launched), and more. GetUSout! can certainly be applied to FedGov presence in medicine.