Andy’s Aspen Adventure: The Live Blog
By Andy Burness, July 2, 2012
It has been a long time—longer than I want to report—since I have gone to school. Or summer camp for that matter. The Aspen Ideas Festival is both, and amidst the beauty and total relaxation of Aspen in the summer (what could be better?) is going from class to class, taking notes and more notes, and hearing perspectives that feel quite different from downtown D.C. seminars.
And, so it was yesterday in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act. Two prominent journalists (Joe Klein and David Brooks) joined with two prominent former politicians (Republican Vin Weber and Democrat Tom Daschle) to give their respective takes. Weber was swept in to office as a soldier in the Gingrich Revolution, and Daschle is the not-too-removed Senate Majority leader. One could reasonably assume that they agree on nothing.
My three takeaways—far more captivating than the debate points over the verdict: (1) they agree on a lot, far more than their disagreements; (2) there was general agreement on the wisdom of the decision; and (3) the discussion had none of the vitriol and venom that has characterized every single exchange I’ve seen between Democrats and Republicans since the President’s bill was first introduced. No talk of “socialized medicine.” Virtually no reference to “Obamacare.” No talk of “tax and spend Democrats.” No berating the Republicans for “sucking up to special interests.” Nothing. These guys were civil, thoughtful, and not just polite. They challenged each other and generally spoke with plenty of passion.
Weber and Daschle took shots at both their parties—not just their enemy—unthinkable on CNN. Totally, totally off message for the caricatures they play for mass public consumption. Weber said that “One party wants to increase regulation, and the other party doesn’t want to pay for enforcement—the worst of both worlds.” He even went on to decry the damage done by his own party in raising “death panels” in the early debate, calling it “unfortunate because it kept us from having the discussion we need to have.”
Daschle, for his part, harped on the inability of either party to get to the bottom of waste in the system—$800 billion annually, he said. And, he was an equal opportunity critic in search of transparency. “We have more stats on athletes than on doctors to know who are the best performers. Why aren’t we doing something about this?” He wasn’t giving Democrats a free pass.
I asked Weber if this incredibly smart, respectful, open, collegial, even funny back-and-forth could not possibly be replicated back in Washington (and in state capitols, for that matter). Something other than attacks, hatred, challenges to patriotism that we hear and read daily. Real common ground. He said “maybe, but not in an election cycle.”
But, later, I heard a scintilla of hope for breaking the gridlock to make way for civility. More on that next…
