The Obama administration is losing the battle on health care reform where it counts most -- in what the American public is thinking and fearing.
Is it because this administration's health care reform plans are terrible, and deserve to lose on their merits?
Maybe so. I don 't think so.
I think it's because the administration took far too long to treat the health care reform campaign the same way, with the same tools, as Obama's election campaign. For months, this has been a propaganda war. Exactly like an election campaign.
When someone claims "death squads" are part of Obama's plans, there must be an immediate "truth squad" response. When someone makes a more reasonable criticism, that needs to be answered, too -- reasonably, and rapidly.
Reality: Propaganda wars are conducted primarily on the Internet these days. Obama won the election by understanding this, and executing an all-out Internet election campaign better than it's ever been done.
The administration is trying to do that now.
Right here -- on the Web -- is where this battle is being decided.