By Quin Hillyer at the Washington Examiner;

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., promised on Thursday to provide “ample time” for “robust debate” with an “open amendment process” regarding the draft healthcare reform bill he had just released.

But he also is reported to be insisting that the Senate vote on it before July 4.

He can’t do both. And he darn well better ditch the second goal in order to uphold the first promise.

The public is far from sold on Republican legislative efforts to replace Obamacare. Republicans will need time, and a serious explanatory effort, to sell its proposal.

Of course, it usually takes a president to lead the sales effort on such a major piece of legislation. The current president is not able to provide such an effort: He doesn’t explain things well, doesn’t have the propensity or the skill to persuade those who aren’t already inclined to his side, and has a style that actively “turns off” at least as many people as it appeals to.

The Senate will not pass a bill, especially on a quick vote, unless some skeptical senators see the public rallying behind it. Without a president to take the lead, painstaking work must be done by legislative leaders to attract such a rally.

One piece of such work should be a serious effort to make the bill bipartisan….

[Later in the column:] 

Of course, it usually takes a president to lead the sales effort on such a major piece of legislation. The current president is not able to provide such an effort: He doesn’t explain things well, doesn’t have the propensity or the skill to persuade those who aren’t already inclined to his side, and has a style that actively “turns off” at least as many people as it appeals to.

The Senate will not pass a bill, especially on a quick vote, unless some skeptical senators see the public rallying behind it. Without a president to take the lead, painstaking work must be done by legislative leaders to attract such a rally.

One piece of such work should be a serious effort to make the bill bipartisan…..

[The full column is here.]


 

By the way, a note, for those who wonder about this: There is a good reason I can’t publish the entire articles here at my site, even if I wrote them. Almost all of these pieces are written for other publications, which own the copyright to them. Via fair use, I can quote a reasonably extensive excerpt, as long as I provide a link back to the original — but I am not allowed, by law, to publish the whole thing here. — Quin

 

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