When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

The 1929 film The Return of Sherlock Holmes

You do realize that President Obama is a Blue Dog Democrat? The left doesn’t want to face this fact but the conclusion is inescapable. And, when I say blue dog, Obama is to the right of DLC Democrats like Clinton; a corporatist in his own right. Bill Clinton did genuinely care about the poor. He spoke of them often. Obama never goes out of his way to speak about the poor, except to lecture them about “no excuses”, and he never misses an opportunity to ingratiate himself with the middle class and the right; even at the expense of the poor and the left.

Progressives have little leverage over this President. When arms need twisting, he twists progressives’ arms, not Blue Dogs. When White House leaks occur, telling Democrats to chill, its a shot over the bow of progressives, not Blue Dogs. The White House most ambiguous positions in the healthcare reform debate, are those that are near and dear to progressives, not blue Dogs. It’s progressives who are left out of back room deals, not Blue Dogs.

So, we must stop pretending Obama is hoping for us to provide him cover to do the things we liberals and progressives want done. We need to negotiate with him as an friendly adversary and not an ally.

Therefore, the CPC should horse trade with Obama; Medicare 4 All in exchange for our full support for his expansion in Afghanistan.

Healthcare reform is permanent, wars are not. The CPC can make Obama burn through an enormous amount of political capital if they oppose HCR and escalation. Former Senator, George S. McGovern, makes a simple case for Medicare 4 All, in the Washington Post. If we get Medical 4 All, insuring 47 million Americans, he can go play war with the all volunteer military. I think it’s a fair exchange. Otherwise, we oppose a bad bill, an unnecessary war, and he will become damaged goods in 2012.

Every President wants to be reelected.