Let’s talk Waterloo

By Jennifer J. Foster

Published: July 23, 2009

I told you Tuesday that I saw a great interview U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint did with Neil Cavuto about his now-famous “Waterloo” remark in reference to President Obama’s health care reform plans.

Here it is, courtesy of YouTube:

I hope you’ll take the time to watch it. It’s only six minutes, and it is really a great interview.

Far from retracting his comment, DeMint emphasized it, and he explained why he believes it’s so important for Congress to put the brakes on Obama’s plan.

Note here that DeMint isn’t against reforming the health care system generally. This is something that Republicans and conservative and moderate Democrats need to be saying more: We don’t oppose reform. We just oppose this kind of reform.

DeMint’s objections to the plan are philosophical in nature. He doesn’t believe the government should be in the position of dictating what is and isn’t covered in health care plans. And make no mistake: Under some provisions now being discussed in Congress, lawmakers—not insurers, not doctors and certainly not patients—would be making the decisions about what is and isn’t covered. This isn’t rhetoric or fearmongering; it’s reality. The Associated Press says so.

The president has used DeMint’s “Waterloo” comment to try to convince the public that Republicans are opposing reform efforts just because he, Obama, is supporting them.

If you’ll listen to what DeMint is saying, you’ll see that that premise couldn’t be further from the truth.

So who is making this about Obama?

Obama.

Think about it. How many of you had heard of DeMint’s comment before the president used it in his remarks on Monday?

Exactly.

It’s pretty brilliant, actually. By repeatedly repeating DeMint’s comment, the president is making it about himself—even while insisting that he isn’t.

Still not convinced?

How about this little tidbit from U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who recounted for the National Journal a conversation he had with a Democratic congressman:

Grassley said he spoke with a Democratic House member last week who shared Obama’s bleak reaction during a private meeting to reports that some factions of House Democrats were lining up to stall or even take down the overhaul unless leaders made major changes.

“Let’s just lay everything on the table,“ Grassley said. “A Democrat congressman last week told me after a conversation with the president that the president had trouble in the House of Representatives, and it wasn’t going to pass if there weren’t some changes made ... and the president says, ‘You’re going to destroy my presidency.‘“

No. This isn’t about Obama at all ... except for Obama.

And as for the president’s charge that DeMint stands for obstructionism and “old-school politics” and “the politics of the past” and all these other sound bites he’s fond of using, here’s the reality:

If they’re engaging in them, so is he.