Here’s why the White House will go after Howard Dean but not the actual people who are derailing health care reform:
People wondering why the White House does tough, public pushback against Howard Dean but not against the likes of Ben Nelson or Joe Lieberman ought to take a deep breath and consider that Nelson and Lieberman . . . get votes in the United States Senate.
The White House hasn’t publicly attacked Bernie Sanders or Roland Burris over there Dean-esque doubts any more than they’ve publicly denounced Nelson or Lieberman. That’s because the White House doesn’t want to get into a downward spiral of recriminations with any of the 62 Senators who they’re hoping will vote for the bill.
As Aravosis puts it “In other words, they’ll respect you when they fear you”. Truer words never spoken.