KNOCK IT OFF, FELLAS. Senator Barack Obama had better do a little more reading and a little less presidential-positioning before going on Meet the Press again. It's understandably tempting to make a name for oneself by mocking Democrats. It's also a surefire way to gain plaudits from everyone from Tim Russert to Sean Hannity. But yesterday, when Russert read a passage from Obama's new book in which the senator says he's a big believer in free-market capitalism who also worries about the efficiency of government programs, Russert asked him a very specific question Obama couldn't platitude-pander his way out of: So, which programs, Senator? Suddenly the savvy, smooth senator disappeared, replaced by a fumbling dissembler. His answer? He supports Medicare and Medicaid, of course, (of course!), but laments that they use paper billing instead of electronic billing, which would be more efficient.
Is he joking? Is he really so careless as to make sweeping laments about government program but follow that with such a lame answer? Private insurers surely use electronic billing, Senator, but where is your criticism of their inefficiencies? As plenty of folks have pointed out, including Matt and Ezra, the overhead for major federal insurance programs is typically far less than what private insurers take off the top. So which is it, Senator? Are you prepared to venerate the very programs you criticize, given that they're more efficient (not to mention more effective and egalitarian) than the "free-market" solutions you praise in your campaign manifesto/ book?
In a similar case, I ran into a major Colorado Democrat recently who sighed when I asked him about some of Senator Ken Salazar's statements and votes, particularly on torture. "He's angling to be senator for life," he shrugged. Obama and Salazar, the Democratic darlings of the 2004 elections, remain rising stars who will be a big part of the party's future -- and rightly so. But what's next? Salazar finding another Ricky Ray Rector to execute and Obama searching for his Sister Souljah moment?
--Tom Schaller
