The six "centrist" Senate Democrats are fools

There are six so-called "centrist" Democrats in the Senate gearing up to kill the health care reform. Mark Kleiman points to the exact same situation in 1993 when the "centrist" Democrats did kill the Clinton effort at health care reform.

In 1993, Democratic "centrists" on Capitol Hill helped defeat Hillarycare, believing that their power was unshakable and would be increased by teaching the new President a lesson about who was boss. The Gingrich Revolution was condign punishment for them, though what the rest of us did to deserve it I don't know.

For Gingrich and his allies, the health care debate wasn't really about health care: it was about destroying the power of a Democratic President.

It's not surprising that the Republicans have remembered that lesson, but it's disappointing that the "centrist" Democrats have forgotten it. This bill is make or break for the Democratic Party, and Harry Reid ought to enforce party discipline on the cloture vote. No on cloture should mean no subcommittee chair, no pork, and no money from the DSCC.

I don't think those Democratic Senators will wake up to the facts they are facing until it is too late. I sure hope that somehow Harry Reid and Barack Obama can get the seriousness of their situation over to them.