Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

October 27, 2009

The Turning Point?

After the Democratic effort to reform health care took a pounding in August, President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress in early September may have been even more important than we thought at the time to getting things back on track.

Two important things happened during that speech:

First, the president surprised many when he made an impassioned case for the public option. Most analysts thought he would push for compromise by dropping it altogether. Instead, the public option is still very much alive today in both the House and Senate versions of the bill.

Second, Rep. Joe Wilson's (R-SC) outburst during the speech unintentionally laid the groundwork for Democrats to go it alone by portraying his party as totally uninterested in bipartisanship. Wilson became the poster-child for obstructionism.

It's still too early for Democrats to declare victory, but health care reform has never looked in better shape than it does right now.

Comments (View)
The Turning Point? (via @pwire)Tweet |

Taegan D. Goddard is the creator of Political Wire, a political column updated around the clock with the most interesting news, buzz and commentary.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

This is a personal site and does not necessarily reflect the views of any company, political campaign or advocacy group.

PRAISE

"There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them."

-- Chuck Todd, NBC News political director

"Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all."

-- Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report

"Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”

-- Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report

"The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom -- nicely packaged, constantly updated... What political junkie could ask for more?"

-- Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

"If I were on the proverbial desert island and had only one web site to access, Political Wire would be it."

-- Dotty Lynch, CBS News political consultant

"Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don't want to kick."

-- Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

"Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere."

-- Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

"I love Political Wire. It is a one stop shopping site for all the political information I need. It makes me sound brilliant so naturally I like it!"

-- Dick Morris, political consultant

"I rely on Taegan Goddard's Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It's an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading."

-- Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.

BELTWAY BUZZ

• CQ Politics
  
• First Read
  
• The Hotline
  
• The Note
• The Page
• Washington Wire
  
• Mike Allen's Playbook
• Politico
  
• Roll Call
  
• The Hill
  
• CNN Political Ticker
  
• The Swamp
  
• The Fix
  
• Washington Whispers
  
• Fish Bowl DC
  

ANALYSIS

• Marc Ambinder
  
• Charlie Cook
  
• Craig Crawford
  
• Ezra Klein
  
• Rick Hasen
  
• Henrick Hertzberg
  
• Jonathan Martin
• Stu Rothenberg
  
• Ben Smith
• Andrew Sullivan
  

MORE BUZZ

• Huffington Post
  
• Talking Points Memo
  
• Daily Kos
  
• Real Clear Politics
  
• Wonkette
  
• Instapundit
  
• Drudge Report
  
• America Blog
  
• Politics1
  
• Ballot Access News
  

POLLS

• AP/Ipsos
  
• Cook/RT Strategies
  
• Democracy Corps
  
• Diageo/Hotline
  
• Electoral-Vote.com
  
• Five Thirty Eight
  
• Gallup
  
• Harris
  
• Marist
  
• Monmouth
  
• Pew Research
  
• Polling Report
  
• Pollster.com
  
• Public Policy Polling
  
• Rasmussen
  
• Research 2000
  
• Survey USA
  
• Quinnipiac
  
• Zogby
  

CONTACT

Send your tips, memos, comments and suggestions to