Democrats Will Skip Formal Health Care Conference

Lumbering dinosaur of a bill will fall flat with 21st century voters

(NEWSER) - We live in the age of the iPhone, a world in which you can take your pick of 100,000 apps—and "Democrats are pushing the biggest, fattest, one-size-fits all legislation since 1965," writes Daniel Henninger for the Wall Street Journal. It's not what you'd hope for from our hipster-in-chief. "But the Obama health care bill, and maybe this whole administration, is starting to look totally out of sync with the new zeitgeist, the spirit of the age." More»

Dana Milbank: Only he is standing up to Republican attacks on law

(NEWSER) - Republicans keep attacking health care reform, and with one loud exception, Democrats have been "passive to the point of wimpy" in defending it, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post . That exception? "Brooklyn-born streetfighter" Anthony Weiner. "I don't represent the hide-under-the-desk wing of the Democratic Party," the New York congressman said yesterday, complaining that even Nancy Pelosi and President Obama hadn't done enough. "I believe we've got to lean into this fight." More»

No need for Pelosi, Reid to panic—at least not yet

(NEWSER) - Democrats didn’t get the bump in the polls they were hoping for after health care reform passed. Are they doomed in November? Maybe. But they have reasons for optimism, writes Jay Newton-Small for Time , including:

• Michael Steele: He’s “the gift that keeps on giving,” and his gaffes are killing the GOP’s momentum.
• Tea Party candidates: In many states, fringe candidates are sucking up money and threatening to derail theoretically more electable establishment candidates.

Compromise looking more distant than ever

(NEWSER) - President Obama's health care summit left pundits from across the spectrum feeling more pessimistic than ever about the chances of crafting a bipartisan agreement on reform.

• "It was a talking-point festival," writes Peggy Noonan at the Wall Street Journal. The Republicans put forth seemingly unconnected statements, and the "boorish" Democrats appealed to sentiment in an effort to win support for a bill that they obviously plan to "bully through Congress."

In wake of Massachusetts, Harry Reid says 'there's no rush'

(NEWSER) - And suddenly, "there's no rush" to get health care reform passed. So says Harry Reid in comments echoed up and down the party line today. Democrats essentially called a halt to President Obama's No. 1 priority now that Scott Brown's win in Massachusetts has gummed up the works. Coming just a day ahead of the State of the Union, the comments make it unlikely that Obama will lay out a specific path forward tomorrow. More»