Politics & Power Quote by David Axelrod

The real move here is reframing “change” from a vague campaign slogan into a named enemy with a body count. Axelrod isn’t trying to win a policy seminar; he’s trying to win the story. “But you say” stages a debate already in progress, casting skeptics as reasonable questioners while positioning himself as the adult with receipts. Then comes the pivot: change is not the bill’s fine print, it’s the act of finally taking on the insurance industry - an opponent portrayed not as a stakeholder but as a historic saboteur that has “killed health reform for generations.”

That verb choice is doing heavy lifting. “Killed” turns legislative failure into moral catastrophe, implying that delay isn’t neutral and that industry power has consequences measured in lives. The “tens of millions” detail adds a courtroom flourish: concrete enough to feel factual, big enough to feel obscene. It also inoculates against criticism by suggesting that any resistance is bought.

Subtext: if you’re wavering, understand what side you’re on. Axelrod’s “on the doorstep” metaphor is classic momentum politics, designed to make dissent feel like cowardice at the finish line. “Great victory for the American people” widens the coalition beyond party, converting a contested bill into a populist triumph over entrenched money.

Contextually, this is health reform as a proxy war over who governs: elected officials or industries with checkbooks. Axelrod’s intent is to collapse complexity into a moral binary, because in Washington, winning the narrative often precedes winning the vote.