Saturday, October 24, 2009

A Change of Tactics?

As health care D-Day draws near the administration appears to be pulling out all the stops. After getting everyone in a tizzy with their weirdo war on Fox News, a new direction seems to be emerging.

Several days ago Secretary of Human Services Kathleen Sebelius appeared before Congress looking as if she'd come from a barroom brawl. Turns out her eye was swollen because she'd just had a cancer procedure, one she hopes everyone will have access to one day through the public option. She was essentially using herself as a prop.

Then yesterday the White House released their family portrait. It really was a picture of Americana--four smiling, happy people who just happen to inhabit the residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Who could find fault with it other than photo buffs (who blasted Leibovitz's composition, reminiscent of the lousy photographer on Scare Force One photo mission), racists, or general haters, the latter two providing more fodder for the administration to exploit.

Now today the HuffPo reports that David Axelrod, the guy most responsible for dragging Fox through the media mud last week, will be opening up about his daughter's epilepsy on 60 Minutes. There's even a link for donations at the bottom of the page. We all hope for a cure one day, so hit the tip jar if you can.

But if these warm fuzzies are actually more than a coincidence--indeed a strategy play--then the goals might perhaps be two-fold: keep the focus on nationalized health care down to a human level while immunizing the top officials from criticism through personal stories that render any tough political criticism on health care as not just standard opposition, but mean-spirited hate. This post might even qualify, for instance.

These guys come from Chicago. Ask yourself--what would Blagojevich do?

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