GOP Needs to Say 'You Lie' at Obama Health Summit

Not challenging president will turn summit into PR exercise
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 25, 2010 5:15 AM CST
GOP Needs to Say 'You Lie' at Obama Health Summit
"Americans expect the president to be treated with dignity and deference, making criticizing him to his face politically risky," Rove writes.   (Getty Images)

Congressional Republicans should be a little more respectful than Joe Wilson but they shouldn't shy away from correcting the president if he makes false statements at today's health care summit, writes Karl Rove. It's only by turning the summit into a debate and challenging the president on his claims about his health plan's costs that GOPers can turn today into more than just a presidential PR exercise, Rove writes in the Wall Street Journal.

Lawmakers all too often talk tough but then turn to jelly when they come face to face with a president, Rove observes, reminiscing about his days in the Bush administration. Public opinion is with the Republicans on health care reform and its lawmakers should remember that and keep Obama on the defensive, he argues. "Obama may have a home court advantage, but Republicans have facts, ideas, and most of the American people on their side." (More Karl Rove stories.)

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