CNN:
The Republican National Committee is instructing surrogates to accuse the Obama administration of trying to "fool Americans" into supporting their heath care plans by hyping GOP figures who've spoken positively about the plan, according to internal RNC talking points provided to CNN on Tuesday by a Republican source outside the committee.
In recent days, the administration and its Democratic allies have pointed to a handful of prominent Republicans who support the idea of passing some kind of health care legislation by the end of the year.
This week, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist -- all Republicans --- endorsed the idea. So did New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent.
"The White House's latest tactic to rescue its failing health care plan is highlighting Republicans who say they support health care reform to fool Americans into thinking these Republicans support the president's government-run health care experiment..." the RNC's internal talking points say. "This is yet another example of the White House's preference for P.R. over substance." You can check out the memo here [PDF].
So let's see if I've got this straight, Democrats are trying to "fool" Americans into thinking that there are Republicans who support Obama's efforts at healthcare reform by pointing to Republicans who support Obama's efforts at healthcare reform. How terribly dishonest!
Further, the suggestion is that Democrats and the White House need to do this, because Republican ideas are just so damned popular that people would be outraged if they knew Republicans are sidelined.
Never mind that recent polling shows a majority prefers a "strong public health insurance option" to a bipartisan bill for bipartisanship's sake.
Once again, the GOP is putting a lot more effort into spin and obstructionism than they are in providing actual solution -- that is, in doing their damned job. Apparently that's the way things are going to work in Washington from now on; Democrats do the heavy lifting while Republicans do the whining.
