From a practical perspective, the answer has to be yes. As Ed Morrissey of Hot Air points out in Dem Senator: Public option is dead; Update: Sebelius video added:

Not only have red-state voters become passionately opposed to government takeover of health care, but independents and even some liberal districts have seen a high degree of anger and fear of losing a system that works for most Americans. When opponents of ObamaCare get cheers in townhall meetings with Rep. Keith Ellison in one of the most liberal districts in America, MN-05, we know that advocates have something to fear from voter backlash in 2010.

The White House has to be looking for a way to back down gracefully, so Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius floated a trial balloon on one of the Sunday AM TV talk shows to test the waters. The far-left reaction must have been swift and intense, and the White House gently “clarified” its position on the issue via email (which must have further infuriated single-payer plan proponents.)

The whole episode has looked amateurish, to be sure, but in an ironic twist of fate the “it’s all about me” President now has several degrees of political freedom:

• He can sign a reform act without the public option, then tell his left-wing supporters that he listened to them, remained steadfast in his support, and that Congress didn’t give him what he wants due to re-election fears. Obama will tell them they should campaign in 2010 for reform-minded candidates (thus throwing some members of the current Congress under the bus.)
• He can sign a reform act without the public option, then tell the nation that the most serious problems in our current health care system have been solved due to his leadership. Obama can then move on to re-establish his tattered credibility, realizing that his left-wing buddies will have to swallow this defeat (throwing them under the bus, but who cares – after all, who else will they turn to?)
• He can sign a reform act with a watered-down public option re-inserted by an Obama-pressured House/Senate conference committee (as Ed Morrissey in the quoted article suggests), providing some degree of cover for the Congress while allowing him to declare victory (throwing the American public under the bus.)

The option with the least political risk to everyone is the second, and it could be combined with the first. Anything resembling the third option will risk a major turn-over in Congress and a loss of the democratic majority in one or both houses, which will all but ensure a single term Obama presidency. Remember, electability trumps policy.

2 Responses to “Is the Public Option Dead?”

1. Let Us Prey « docweaselblog says:

   August 17, 2009 at 5:48 pm

   [...] A Solitary Conspiracy: Is the Public Option Dead? [...]
2. Ass-end of Health Care Socialism? « docweaselblog says:

   August 17, 2009 at 6:05 pm

   [...] A Solitary Conspiracy: Is the Public Option Dead? [...]