Word: lbj
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...anything on this order of magnitude in 44 years [since Congress passed Medicare and Medicaid]. President Obama: Well, as you point out, the last time we did something of this magnitude was 1965. And the circumstances in some cases were similar - in some cases were profoundly different. Obviously LBJ had just won a landslide re-election and had huge majorities in the Senate and the House. We have the largest Democratic majorities since LBJ. But the way that Congress works is a little bit different today than it was then ... I think that Congress is more splintered. I think each...
...Obama was struck by the advantages LBJ had that he doesn't: Johnson was just coming off a landslide election victory and had bigger Democratic majorities on Capitol Hill, where individual members were not nearly as independent of their party leaders as they are now. Nor was the Republican Party of 1965 as uniformly conservative as it is today. Obama must contend with a rougher political culture, fueled by a press corps that in the President's words "gets bored with the details easily, and it very easily slips into a very conventional debate about government-run health care...
...there is also much about how Washington works that hasn't changed. LBJ once said the only way to deal with Congress is "continuously, incessantly and without interruption." To get anything really big done, a President must not only rally public opinion but also keep the legislative machinery turning despite the brakes applied by moneyed interests and public doubts. That is the hard work of governing, and it is very different from campaigning...
...Will that kind of LBJ-style maneuvering be enough? Skepticism is growing. Before taking a risky vote that could come back to haunt them, Democrats are clamoring for a clearer idea of where the President stands on some of the thornier issues, like who should be taxed - and how much - to cover the uninsured. "They want to make sure what they are voting on will be there in the end," says Connecticut Congressman Joe Courtney. "This is a unique role the White House can play." (Watch TIME's video "Uninsured Again...
...understand that you've thought a lot and studied a lot, and that a few weeks ago, in fact, even Nancy-Ann [DeParle, the White House health czar] brought you a memo as to sort of just how LBJ pulled this off - not just making the case for it publicly, but really making the gears of government run. What of that experience speaks to this experience? Well, as you point out, the last time we did something of this magnitude was 1965. And the circumstances in some cases were similar, in some cases were profoundly different. Obviously LBJ had just...