Watching Democrats let health care reform simply slide away is pretty astonishing: The Senate and the House shrug their shoulders at each other while the president pivots off to financial reform, leaving the last six months of legislating to "cool off" on the Hill until Tuesday's State of the Union address. Seeing the wheels come off what had been a vaunted political operation has been rather depressing, as Paul Waldman discussed the other day. What's interesting, though, is Democrats willingness to believe Republicans who tell them that trying to pass the health care legislation will hurt them at the polls. Conservatives have harped on the idea that health care reform is a terrible issue for Democrats -- even though it had little to do with the upset in Massachusetts, and the real issue seems to be less the unpopularity of health care reform and more the Democrats inability to get anything done.Meanwhile, Democratic strategists have been out in force, making the (correct, in my view) argument that passing health care reform is the only thing that will save the Democrats from a 1994-style disaster. Caving now would simply demonstrate the Democrats inability to govern and follow through on their promises -- and, on the other hand, nothing succeeds like success. But that message doesn't seem to be getting through to the Hang Separately Democrats, who instead focus on what their political enemies are telling them. Attention, Raul Grijalva et. al: You are taking the advice of people who want to see you lose.I'm going to recommend that they watch this, instead. Update: TNR's Noam Schieber checks in, reminding me of the phrase I was trying to remember this morning: "talking your own book."-- Tim Fernholz
