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Last week, I wrote about how Democrats are controlling the language and images in the healthcare debate, which has contributed to the Party’s success in moving the legislation forward. This week, Democrats continue to show they are making all of the right communications moves on healthcare.
Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) unveiled the cost of the Senate’s proposed bill – a whopping $849 billion over ten years. Republicans were likely salivating before the announcement, ready to leverage the substantial sum to reignite opposition to the bill. If Republicans turn the debate into a highly visible food fight over costs, healthcare reform could be in jeopardy.
Proving that Democrats continue to stay one step ahead of the opposition on this issue, however, Reid also announced that the bill would lower the deficit by $127 billion over ten years. In doing so, Democrats anticipated and thwarted their opponents’ most powerful counterstatements. Republicans can still rail on costs, but by introducing a fiscally responsible message into the mix, those attacks carry less weight and credibility.
On healthcare, the Democrats have proved to be masters at communications blackjack. Anyone familiar with the game will tell you there’s a strategic move for each possible hand that – if played correctly – will reduce the casino’s advantage over the player to less than one percent. While there’s still no guarantee of a win, it drastically improves the odds.
It remains unclear whether this stunting of the GOP's most potent messaging will give Reid enough breathing room to get healthcare through, but the Senator representing Vegas has certainly proved himself to be one savvy player and provided a salient public affairs lesson for any organization engaged in a high-stakes policy debate: Anticipate your opponents next moves, and act quickly to mitigate their influence.
Andrew Koneschusky is a Vice President at Levick Strategic Communications and a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog. Connect with Levick on Twitter: @Levick.
bulletproofblog.com, BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications, Nov 2009