OH DEAR, FINALLY – AT 6:22 P.M. ET:  President Obama, operating independently of his beleaguered party, some of whose members he's already thrown under the bus, says that, hey, maybe there's a compromise on health care.  From the Washington Post:

As Democrats searched for a way forward after their defeat in the Massachusetts Senate race, President Obama said Wednesday that "core elements" of his health-care package enjoy broad support and could form the basis for a swift compromise.

Hey, wait, guy.  Isn't this what the Republicans have been saying for months?  Fix it, don't replace it?  Have you heard this before, Saint Barack?

"I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements in the package that people agree on," Obama said in an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos.

Now there's a revolutionary idea.  In fact, a guy in Massachusetts named Brown was talking about it.

"We know that we need insurance reform. The health insurance companies are taking advantage of people. We know that we have to have some form of cost containment because if we don't, then our budgets are going to blow up."

The Senate passed its health-care package late last year without a single Republican vote, and the surprise election of Scott Brown (R) on Tuesday deprived Democratics of their filibuster-proof majority.

Maybe someone should ask the Republicans why they voted against it.

White House aides initially said they favored having the House pass the Senate-passed version, rendering another Senate vote unnecessary, and then refining it later. But in comments that appeared to represent a change of position, Obama said Brown should be part of the process. The president ruled out one possible approach that other leading Democrats have also opposed.

"Here's one thing I know and I just want to make sure that this is off the table: The Senate certainly shouldn't try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated," Obama said. "The people of Massachusetts spoke. He's got to be part of that process."

Until Scott Brown is seated?  Until?  A good reporter might ask what that meant.

Many people are saying that Obama now must make a choice between being Kennedy or Carter, between being a man who recognized his mistakes and tried to correct him, or a holier-than-thou figure who would not change because he was better than all of us.  On that choice will rest his presidency.

January 20, 2010