"The thing that I think is wrong and dumb about this is that they're in la-la land about this 'Where was Obama born?' and all that kind of stuff, and I think it sounds like an old record with a bad scratch in it.
Look, as a Democrat, let them have at it. But for America's sake, what they should be doing is saying, 'Why aren't they buying what we're selling?' First of all, nothing lasts forever, no theory of the case lasts forever, time moves on. So their message won't fly because the circumstances of America are different, the demography of America is different, the psychology of America is different... It's so plainly out of whack with what you perceive the reality of the day and the challenges that we face. We've got 9 percent of all eligible homeowners in America having their mortgages rewritten 9 percent and you're talking to me about where Obama was born? Give me a break. I mean it's like, what is this?
As Democrats, we should let them wander around in this wilderness as long as they'd like. We still have a serious responsibility to pass health-care legislation, to pass climate-change legislation, keep working around the edges on this economic crisis, do something that will work on this home-owners thing. We've got to do something that will really get us there. And support the President. Do something that will really get this stuff done and then be willing to be judged by the consequences of what we do
And we now know, and I'm surer of this than anything: We just couldn't do [health-care reform] as long as Bob Dole was running for president. He's a good guy, and he's a friend of mine, and the whole time I dealt with him, the only time he was not as good as his word was on this. After Rostenkowski had asked for a bill, I personally asked Bob in the Cabinet Room if we could sit down and write a bill together and send a joint bill to the Congress. Because he was really good on health care for a Republican, cared about it, and he said, 'You know, you need to send a bill in and we need to produce a bill, so that people know there are differences between the two parties and our approaches. Then we'll get together and compromise it out.' When he said that, I think he believed it. Then he gets Bill Kristol's famous memo that says, you know, If you let Bill Clinton pass any kind of health-care bill, the Democrats will be the majority party for a generation, and you can forget about your presidential hopes. Your only option is to beat anything. Kill it off.
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