‘Top Line’ — The Argument for Obama Tacking Left

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: The results from last week’s Senate election in Massachusetts have set off a raging debate inside the Democratic Party over what should come next. Should President Obama adjust his priorities to reflect the nation’s polarized politics? Or should he use the setback as a call to arms for the liberal base that helped propel him to office? On ABC’s “Top Line” today, Robert Borosage, co-director of the liberal Campaign for America’s future, said the president must use his State of the Union address to chart a clear path for the party — a path Borosage said should tack leftward, starting with a restated commitment to passing comprehensive health care reform. “He’s got to lay out the direction of the administration and the argument headed into the fall, and I think he’s got to take a very strong position now,” Borosage told us. “It’s time to show that Democrats are prepared to put down a gauntlet about what is the direction that’s best for this country. And I hope he does that. In that case, health care and getting health care passed is absolutely essential to the economy — it’s essential to every family’s pocketbook. It’s essential to businesses, and I think he ought to push forward.” Of those — including Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. — arguing for a scaled-back agenda in the wake of the Massachusetts vote, Borosage said that misreads political realities.

“There’s two problems with it. One is, Republicans have made it clear they’re not cooperating. They’re not in the bipartisan game — they are in an obstruction game, and it’s working for them. So you’re not going to get more cooperation going forward,” Borosage said. “The second thing is, Democrats have the majority, it’s time to produce. We’re going to be held accountable for it and you’ve got to be — you’ve got to let people know the choice. The fact is we had a set of policies that drove us off the cliff, that created the worst economic condition since the great depression and we have a Republican Party [that] wants to go back to those. You’ve got to draw the line and draw the distinction.” He also warned that a centrist strategy risks alienating the president’s core supporters: “If you take Evan Bayh’s strategy and you retreat and you let health care go by the board and produce nothing, then you’re going to see a lot of people stay home or stay on their hands in the fall,” Borosage said. “I think if you draw the lines and you give people a choice, that’ll stoke the base. And you take on the banks and you start pushing for jobs — let Republicans argue about deficits and against regulation — you’ll see people come out in the fall.” Watch the full discussion with Robert Borosage HERE. We also checked in with Republican campaign attorney Ben Ginsberg, to discuss the fallout of last week’s major Supreme Court ruling on campaign financing. Watch that segment HERE.