The man speaking Tuesday at the Norfolk Forum didn’t sound like a man who wants a cabinet appointment:
The Obama Administration…”did a really terrible job handling health care reform…You can’t turn something that complicated loose on the United States Congress…People got scared. People got mad…. We lost an enormous amount of time on health care…. Both sides made bad mistakes.” [PilotOnline.com]
Oh sure, he says that now.
Webb supported the health care bill and voted for it twice. But somewhere around…oh…November of last year…Webb started talking about how he warned the President that health care would be a “disaster.” [Real Clear Politics]
Yes, I know, even at the time of his vote, Webb said he had some misgivings about the bill.
But. He. Still. Voted. Yes.
At the time of the vote he issued a statement and said, “In the end, I voted in favor of the legislation despite some serious misgivings with portions of it because it does represent a true step forward in terms of quality, accessibility and affordability of health care for most Americans.”
That’s how he describes “disaster?”
He was right though, that the bill was a disaster…for the White House and the Democratic Party. I suspect he also knows that it could be a disaster for him in 2012. That of course has led to the speculation that he won’t run again and that perhaps he would like to have an appointment in the Obama Administration.
Calling the President’s signature legislation a “disaster” is a funny way to get there.
