"So ..... what would YOU suggest should have been done?"

[Stinky The Clown]

I hear this often. It has been asked of me. What would you have done? How was he supposed to overcome a senate that didn't have the votes?

First off, it should never have come to this.

Here's a little thought to chew on: George Bush, a man inferior in EVERY CONCEIVABLE WAY to Barack Obama, got his agenda done. He shouldn't have had the votes. But he got them when they mattered. Surely a man as smart as Barack Obama could do the same.

So here's **my** six step plan:

1. Make a clear and unambiguous statement of what you want a health care reform bill to look like. No weasel words. Be specific. Use every rhetorical skill you possess to sell it to the people.

2. Take to the bully pulpit and use it to counter every opposition lie. Every one of them. Immediately. Stand for something and don't back down.

3. Be willing to point to certain people and tell the country they're corrupt and beholden to people who have interests different from the Common Weal. No need to start off by doing it. But make it crystal clear that you will if you need to. You need sixty votes? Then get them by any means necessary. Hoyle applies only to card games. This will also help you, later, with anything else you want to get done.

4. Manage the message. Treat it is as seriously as you treated the campaign to get yourself elected.

5. Make it ABSOLUTELY about "them" and "us". Populism is powerful. You're not "bipartisan". You're "non partisan".

6. Spend whatever political capital it takes, even if you have to borrow. And don't worry about reelection. Get this done and you'll be declared a saint by popular acclaim. NOTHING we have EVER done affects each of us so immediately as health care. It is bigger than Medicare and bigger than Social Security. Get this done and reelection is automatic.