The mythical middle and the White House health care summit

It is admirable that President Obama continues to cross the aisle in Washington looking for someone to embrace. He certainly is determined. And a White House health care summit is not entirely worthless. It will give him another chance to describe the legislative proposals in Congress, many of which are Republican ideas.

But when I consider Obama’s outreach I’m reminded of the Barbara Fields book Slavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground: Maryland During the Nineteenth Century. Admittedly, it’s a strange connection; bear with me. The common perception in the 1980s held that during the Civil War the North was anti-slavery and the South was pro-slavery and the border states were mostly ambivalent.

Fields exploded that idea by showing that Maryland was bitterly and viciously divided over slavery during the Antebellum Era. In exploring this dynamic she also critiques the idea of the “middle ground”. There is no middle, she shows, between freedom and slavery. There is no real compromise position.

Republicans have demonstrated that they are unwilling to compromise on health reform. They do not want to expand coverage. They do not want meaningful reforms. There is no middle ground between health reform and no health reform. If Obama wants to reach a compromise position he is wasting his time.

I also doubt that this move is good politics, but he has advisors who know more about campaigning than I do. I suspect it would be more effective to pass one bill and then hit the trail explaining and defending the legislation.

There’s nothing wrong with seeking compromise. But if Obama finds it difficult to reach the middle ground on health reform it’s probably because it doesn’t exist.