I don't disagree that the Democratic leadership has failed in this case. But I just think it's a very big mistake to only blame the Democrats and let the Republicans completely off the hook, which is what a lot of people (mostly Republicans) are trying to do. It's more the fault of the Republicans than the Democrats, but the Democratic leadership could certainly have done a better job.

I'm not defending the Democrats because I have any particular love for them generally (although I am a big supporter of one Democrat - Kucinich), but we can't let the Republicans succeed in making the Democrats look like they're worse on the issue of health care reform than the Republicans, because they're not.