I believe that in order for Obama to succeed, he has to stop trying to seek consensus with the Republicans and work to keep fellow Democrats in support of the proposed health reforms. While it is honorable to try to work with all parties involved, the fear mongering that has taken place indicates fairly clearly that some in the Republican party are using the debate strictly for political purposes and not to advance health care reform in any way. The more Obama tries to seek consensus, the worse things will work out for health care reform.

While some Republicans have offered alternatives for consideration, too much Republican effort is going into seeding doubt instead of saying, here is our better plan. If two plans were produced by the separate parties, then a debate would be possible and the public could decide. Without two plans, its only a question of reform or no reform.