When Barack Obama pledged to restore bipartisanship to Washington during last year’s presidential campaign, he could not have imagined that the centerpiece of his legislative agenda, health care reform, would garner only one Republican vote. Yet that is precisely what happened on Saturday night.
Specifically, Rep. Anh Cao was the only Republican in the House who voted with Democrats to pass a historic bill to overhaul the health care system 220-215. Most notably, this bill will provide health coverage to over 35 million uninsured Americans; no doubt many of whom live in Cao’s district of New Orleans.
I’ve always been focusing on making the right decisions for the people of my district, whether or not it will cost me my political future.
(Cao on his daring vote)
But where Democrats were clearly surprised by his move, Republicans were positively incensed. After all, his vote, no matter how principled, is tantamount to political treason in Washington these days. And it’s all the more stunning given that, as a first-term Congressman, everybody expected him to go along to get along with fellow Republicans.
But then again Cao is no ordinary Congressman.
Interestingly enough, like Obama, he was a community organizer (in Louisiana’s Vietnamese community) before entering politics. More to the point, though, he became the darling of the Republican Party a year ago by defeating William Jefferson, a nine-term, black, Democratic Congressman, in majority-black New Orleans.
Here, in part, is how I heralded his historic election:
… I lamented [after the terminally corrupt Jefferson’s last victory] not only that predominantly black voters in his district of Louisiana had missed another opportunity to redeem themselves, but also that Jefferson would be defeated only when a cow flies over the moon.
Therefore, it came as a pleasant surprise on Saturday when Republican Anh “Joseph” Cao, a little-known Vietnamese American, defeated Jefferson
That said, I don’t know how much of a future Cao has in American politics with a name that is pronounced “cow”. Although, having defeated someone with a presidential name like William Jefferson, he’s admittedly off to a good start….
[Corrupt Jefferson finally booted from office, TIJ, December 9, 2008]
Now, alas, it’s only a matter of time before the right-wing mullahs of the Republican Party issue a political fatwa to defeat him in the Republican primaries when he runs for re-election next year. These folks have no appreciation for life imitating art in this real-life version of Mr Smith Goes to Washington.
Nevertheless, to persevere what little HOPE Obama retains of restoring bipartisanship to Washington, I hope Cao fends off not only a doctrinaire Republican challenger but also a likely black Democratic challenger next year to retain his seat.
Not to mention that rewarding Cao’s profile in courage by re-electing him might inspire other members of Congress to vote according to their conscience and in the interest of their constituents instead of according to political orthodoxy and in the interest of their respective parties.
Meanwhile, pay no attention to any of the rhetoric about this bill “going nowhere [and being] dead on arrival in the Senate.” Because, notwithstanding partisan disagreement over key provisions (like the “public option plan”), or legitimate concerns about its trillion dollar price tag, the Senate will now go through its own sausage-making process and will pass a version of this health care bill in due course.
Then I have no doubt that Congress will present Obama a reconciled health care reform bill before the end of this year. This will give him the opportunity to sign, seal and deliver on his most important campaign promise, which will also be the most significant piece of Congressional legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
For, as the late Sen. Ted Kennedy always insisted, health care is a right, not a privilege….
NOTE: Members of the main stream media would go a long way towards reclaiming their journalistic integrity if they would spend half as much time reporting on Cao’s honorable stand as they’ve spent reporting on the dishonorable antics of other members of Congress – for whom hurling puerile insults at the president or at congressional adversaries is a profile in courage. But don’t hold your breath.
Related commentaries:
Corrupt Jefferson finally booted from office
Illustration of healthcare debate
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