The conventional wisdom seems to be that the Democrats will suffer for this healthcare bill. And I believe they will…to a point.

In the short term I believe Democrats are about to be trounced in the November elections. And I think they’ve accepted that as well.

But in the long term I’d bet Democrats see this as a long term win. I’ve heard it said in a few places that Democrats now “own” healthcare much like Bush “owned” the war, meaning that every medical mix-up, every complaint, every long line will be blamed on the Democrats. Forever and forever.

But that’s where I’m not in agreement.

Once this thing gets rolling and problems start arising (and there will be many problems) the Democrats will then hold press conferences saying that a fix is needed that will require some money and a wee bit more government oversight. The Republicans will likely stand against the fix and then we’ll be subject to media marathons about horror stories where people are working seven jobs just to keep their children alive while they’re on dialysis and only have one leg so they can’t get on the bus. You know, the kind of stories the media specializes in. Then you’ll have the Democrat come on and say he’s introduced a bill that will help that person but the Republicans are blocking it. And Republicans will look like the bad guys.

Look, every time Republicans simply tried to slow the rate of growth of programs they’ve gotten blasted for it as taking “draconian cuts.”

Democrats know the playing field is not level and that’s why they’re perfectly willing to take the short term hit for a long term gain that will keep on giving every time there’s a problem with our healthcare system.