Obama som mediekritiker

NEW YORK Jag klistrar in Obamas George Mason-tal från häromdagen igen. Det finns ett parti som är roligt att kolla på från 18:45, och inte minst från 19:27 (till och med cirka 20:50, om ni inte vill se hela talet).
Där raljerar presidenten över det han vet att landets politiska kommentatorer kommer att ägna sig åt, när det står klart hur representanthuset röstat. Nämligen att tala om vad det betyder för Obama, för Demokraterna/Republikanerna, för opinionssiffrorna, för valen i höst och så vidare, snarare än om vad reformen betyder för de berörda amerikanerna (inte minst de 32 miljoner som nu väntas få tillgång till sjukförsäkring):

"So here’s the bottom line. That’s our proposal: toughest insurance reforms in history, one of the biggest deficit-reduction plans in history, and the opportunity to give millions of people – some of them in your own family, some of the people who are in this auditorium today – an opportunity for the first time in a very long time to get affordable health care. That’s it. That’s what we’re trying to do. That’s what the Congress of the United States is about to vote on this weekend.

Now, it would be nice if we were just kind of examining the substance, we were walking through the details of the plan, what it means for you. But that’s not what the cable stations like to talk about. What they like to talk about is the politics of the vote. What does this mean in November? What does it mean to the poll numbers? Is this more of an advantage for Democrats or Republicans? What’s it going to mean for Obama? Will his presidency be crippled, or will he be The Comeback Kid? That’s what they like to talk about. That’s what they like to talk about. I understand.

One of the things you realize is basically that a lot of reporting in Washington, it’s just like SportsCenter. It’s considered a sport, and who’s up and who’s down, and everybody’s keeping score. And you got the teams going at it. It’s Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots.

Look, let me say this, George Mason: I don’t know how this plays politically. Nobody really does. I mean, there’s been so much misinformation and so much confusion and the climate at times during the course of this year has been so toxic and people are so anxious because the economy has been going through such a tough time. I don’t know what’s going to happen with the politics on this thing. I don’t know whether my poll numbers go down, they go up. I don’t know what happens in terms of Democrats versus Republicans.

But here’s what I do know. I do know that this bill, this legislation, is going to be enormously important for America’s future."

Talet kan alltså läsas i sin helhet här. Den som vill veta mer om det politiska spelet i USA, och det fokus det ofta får i medierna på bekostnad av sakfrågorna, bör läsa Martin Gelins bok "Det amerikanska löftet".

Och den som vill läsa om de allra mest nördiga aspekterna av nattens omröstning – japp, med en hel del av det politiska spelet – kan ta del av Washington Posts blogg här eller förstås gå till gamla favvosajten 538.com.

/Gunilla