Drop the Public Option, Dems

Watching the crowds at rowdy town hall meetings across the country, it is clear that anger, fear and loathing at bureaucracy, government control and federal spending have heated to a boil.

President Barack Obama knows this. He knows that participants at these forums are mostly decided — against him. They aren’t coming to learn more about healthcare reform; they aren’t interested in the truth vs. rumor on any reform proposals now under consideration in Congress; they are furious about a pile of other issues that preceded this debate and they want to let him and the Democratic Party have it.

If Obama wants healthcare reform to pass, it is time to publicly, openly, forcefully announce the death of the “public option.” It can’t survive final consideration, something everyone in Washington has known for months, and it won’t become law. Why keep advocating it when it is the ultimate target for protesters and a symbol for the opposition of all that is wrong with government today? It is characterized by critics as the first step toward a socialized, single-payer healthcare system, and as they see it, one more step toward government control of the private sector following TARP, the auto bailout, the stimulus package and even the House-passed cap-and-trade bill. How, with the head of steam against all of that government intervention, can Democrats even keep talking about a public healthcare plan?

The public plan is still on the rhetorical table because of the Democratic left, but the White House has already signaled it could compromise on the “co-op” plan for regional insurance exchanges that the Senate Finance Committee is considering. Without a “robust public plan,” progressive Democrats in the House are threatening to vote against final passage of a healthcare bill. While they know it isn’t supported in the Senate and therefore unlikely to survive a House/Senate conference bill, many liberal Democrats are insisting it remain in the House bill so they have leverage in those conference negotiations.

We are almost halfway through August, and the Democrats are fighting an uphill battle on healthcare. If they want a bill by Sept. 15, as they say they do, it is time to campaign on a reform plan without a public option. It is later than they think.

SHOULD DEMOCRATS BE CALLING THESE PROTESTS UN-AMERICAN? Ask A.B. returns Monday, Aug. 17. Please join my weekly video Q&A by sending your questions and comments to askab@digital-release.digital-release.thehill.com. Thank you.