In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, President Obama seems to definitively kill the “hurry up and stall” option for health-care reform:
“Here’s one thing I know and I just want to make sure that this is off the table: The Senate certainly shouldn’t try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated,” the president said. “People in Massachusetts spoke. He’s got to be part of that process.”
Fair enough, but the president also offered this, well I’ll say novel, explanation for Scott Brown’s victory, in which he manages to align his agenda with a stunning rebuke of his agenda (emphasis added):
“Here’s my assessment of not just the vote in Massachusetts, but the mood around the country: the same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office,” the president said in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. “People are angry and they are frustrated. Not just because of what’s happened in the last year or two years, but what’s happened over the last eight years.”
Is this the beginning of a White House “double down” strategy? Or is it “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”?