Barack Obama has previously declared himself a "pragmatist" rather than an "ideologue" and insisted that he listens to all points of view. Not so, according to a recent White House expose by Bloomberg. According to the article, several of Obama's closest advisors tried to talk him down from his health care dreams, worrying about the practical and electoral consequences. The president, a profile in stubbornness, refused to listen.
-- Rahm Emanuel, the most moderate of Obama's advisors, "suggested the president consider a scaled-back version and declare victory" after Scott Brown's election in Massachusetts. Obama refused. Earlier on, in a meeting shortly after Inauguration Day, Emanuel also warned the president about taking on health care reform.
-- Joe Biden is described as being "pessimistic" about health care reform from the very beginning. At the post-Inauguration Day meeting, Biden "said Americans didn’t care enough about health-care coverage to make it a priority".
-- David Axelrod "voiced caution" at the same meeting. Later on in the debate, he confronted the president and explained, "The polls are difficult and there’s a lot of grousing on the Hill about it, and this is going to cost a lot politically in the short run." Obama still refused to back down.
-- Even Ezekiel Emanuel, a rationing-obsessed budget advisor to the president, was skeptical. After Scott Brown emerged victorious in Massachusetts, he wrote in an e-mail that health care reform was "dead...F---ing dead."
In the end, Obama ignored all of them, along with countless Democrat legislators and a majority of the American people. He did have one key ally though. Politico has reported that the president was pushed hard by Nancy Pelosi to ignore Emanuel's concerns and still pass the bill. Ultimately he sided with her over virtually everyone else.
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