Healthcare Smackdown- Rove vs David Plouffe

Young David should come with more than talking points when your opponent is Rove. Young jedi, you are nor nearly ready to take on the master. True.

Plouffe is no match for the old guy. He comes across as wet behind the ears and Rove smacks him down, answering a variety of charges as they are made, never giving him a chance to get off the mat.

Plouffe regurgitates talking points: Republicans haven’t lifted a finger to help. Rove jumps on that, and then proceeds to detail the arm twisting, deal making, and e-mail campaign (that Rove says is illegal) that the Democrats have needed to get the health care  bill this far. Watch, enjoy … and comment. The entire transcript is here.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY7sxC0Dkh8

PLOUFFE: Economic calamity, we’ve got these long-term problems like health care and energy that will determine our future. The Republican Party for the most part is not lifting an oar to help row. And I think…

(CROSSTALK)

ROVE: … that is bunk. That is complete bunk. Republicans have offered a positive alternative on health care, and you didn’t bother to have one meeting between March 5th of 2009 and February 25th of 2010 to discuss how the White House could involve some of those Republican ideas in the bill.

Don’t give us that bunk. That is another one of those false arguments offered by the White House. In fact, you know what? The way that you have sold this bill to Democrats by threatening them, you cannot tell me that the White House didn’t sanction some of these groups like MoveOn.org and others to make these kind of threats against Democrats.

We do know that the White House sent out unsolicited e-mails to federal employees asking them to contact their legislators about this bill. I think that’s not only a violation of the CAN-SPAM Act on e-mails, I think it’s a violation, more importantly, of the anti-lobbying statutes. And that’s the kind of techniques that you’ve been using on this bill, threats, hardball politics, and if need be, withholding federal — the support of the president of the United States from Democrats.

You said earlier this week — the White House did — that the president would be campaigning actively and raising money for Democrats who supported that bill. That is a thinly disguised bribe.

KARL: Is that right?

PLOUFFE: This is just outrageous. No. The president has been…

(CROSSTALK)

ROVE: Look in the newspapers, man. Look in the newspapers.

(CROSSTALK)

ROVE: The White House political office leaked it to the press, saying the White House policy will to provide the president to go campaign for…

(CROSSTALK)

KARL: … campaigning for…

ROVE: That is a thinly described bribe.

KARL: OK, so the president will be campaigning for Democrats who vote no?

PLOUFFE: I’m sure he’ll be out there helping people who vote yes on this, who vote no on this, people who voted yes on the Recovery Act, which, by the way, Karl claimed is a failed program. The economy’s growing.

(CROSSTALK)

ROVE: … jobs have been lost…

(CROSSTALK)

PLOUFFE: … because of this.

ROVE: That’s right, government jobs, government jobs. You promised us…

(CROSSTALK)

ROVE: … private sector. You promised us 4 million jobs.

Part Two is even better. Rove strikes back at Obama trying to be biprtisan on the bill, and when Plouffe pulls out the “mission accomplised” banner point, Rove spanks him hard.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD5956fysn4

ROVE: This is an indictment of the president. He held a bicameral, bipartisan meeting on March 5th of 2009 to talk with people about health care reform. The next time he had a substantive meeting with Republicans to talk about health care reform was the Blair House kabuki drama on February 25th of 2010.

You cannot go for 51 weeks shutting the Republicans out of the debate and claim that you provided leadership. He has been aloof, distant, detached. This bill is based on Bernie Madoff economics and includes things that he campaigned against Hillary Clinton and Bill and — and John McCain on during the campaign. And it is a bad bill for America.

KARL: All right.

ROVE: And we will fight the election on this, and the Democrats will have significant losses in the House and Senate as a result of this bill.

KARL: You have 10 seconds.

PLOUFFE: Well, listen, Karl and a lot of Republicans want to call the election all over. They ought to break out that “Mission Accomplished” banner they put on the USS Abraham Lincoln, OK?

(CROSSTALK)

ROVE: … that is cheesy, David…

(CROSSTALK)

ROVE: … honoring the USS Abraham Lincoln for the — for the longest mission…

(CROSSTALK)

When will I be ready, Oh Obi Wan? Luke, you are not nearly ready.