I'm posting this partly as penance for inexplicably misstating John Edwards's position on Saturday night, but Ezra Klein has written a quite persuasive defense of the North Carolinian's much-debated threat to deprive Congress of its health care should it fail to pass universal care during the first six months of his would-be presidency. Refuting qualms about the plan's constitutionality, Klein writes:
Why wouldn't the Democratic leadership want to use this legislation to hammer away at Republicans? To force them to go on the record about the importance of their own health care? The idea behind this bill is that it will ratchet up political pressure for change, creating a situation in which Congressmen come to the table because they fear losing their seats if they don't. It's a strategy based on the application of political pressure, not legislative finesse. And while not a surefire winner, it's certainly a plausible theory of reform.
Makes sense to me.
--Michael Crowley