But my basic rule of thumb was that I wanted to reach agreement - a reasonable agreement. In the peace movement I made myself knowledgeable about the arms control agreements. I campaigned for arms control, not nuclear disarmament. That put me in the Mondale camp in 1984 when I was on the Democratic National Platform Committee.
Occasionally I went to trial -when there was no reasonable offer on the table. Sometimes that led to big wins. And sometimes to big losses. As a general rule I saw the value of the bird in hand and was loathe to put a decent offer at risk. That is how I feel about the Affordable Care Act. It's not the National Health Service or the Scandinavian system I would prefer. But I don't want to put the ACA's gains at risk for taking a long shot chance on a single-payer system that looks unachievable to me unless we somehow dislodged the GOP House majority.
That said, I see it the way Josh Marshall sees it here. - GWC
A Quick Take on Tonight's Debate -
by Josh Marshall //Talking Points Memo
I think we have two basic questions coming out of this debate - vision for the Democratic party and electability. Nor are these questions distinct. The issue of electability goes to the heart of the vision for the party, since it goes to the root of questions about pragmatism, risk aversion, settling for half or quarter loaves or ending up with nothing. After several of these encounters - after last night and tonight - these basic questions, dividing points seem very clear and well illustrated.
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