Conason, Boyarsky and Robinson: More on Obama, health care and 2010

"No Obama Obituaries, Please" (Joe Conason):

Having taken the oath of office just one year ago, Barack Obama is a flashing meteor that sputtered out too soon—or so the national media narrative tells us. According to this story line, the young president is a presumptuous liberal who disappointed his own idealistic followers while irritating everyone else. Media tipsters spoke of a “final judgment” in Massachusetts before the stunning returns came in—so we may soon hear declarations of a “failed presidency” from Washington’s pundit herd.

Yes, after a run of extraordinary luck that helped get him into the White House, Obama today is confronting his share of electoral trouble. He may well encounter more and worse as November’s midterm approaches. But he and his critics should remember the last time a Democratic president had to listen to the drafting of his own political obituary.

The premature farewells came early in Bill Clinton’s first term.

"Losing the Health Care Battle Is Not an Option" (Bill Boyarsky):

Just pass the damn thing. If the health care bill fails, President Barack Obama’s legacy could be limited to the failing war in Afghanistan. Worse yet, many thousands more Americans will die because they don’t have adequate medical care.

As is their custom, Democrats are blaming each other for Democrat Martha Coakley’s unforgivable loss to Republican Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate election. As that state’s most famous senator, John F. Kennedy, said while president: “There’s an old saying that victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan.”

"Obama on health care: Flight or fight?" (Eugene Robinson):

If President Obama has decided to give up on health-care reform, he should just come out and say so. Then we could all get on with our lives -- those of us with health insurance, that is. But I don't see how his talk about some sort of slimmed-down package, reduced to its "core elements," could possibly inspire Democrats in Congress to do anything but run for the hills.