by Thomas Blaire

Created on: August 19, 2009

It's impossible to define the presidency of Barack Obama on a single issue such as healthcare especially when the country faces desperate economic, diplomatic and military challenges. That being said, Obama's ability (or inability) to pass comprehensive healthcare reform will set the tone for the rest of his legislative agenda.

Obama entered the healthcare debate with almost every factor in his favor. He was elected by an overwhelming margin, his party controls both houses of Congress and he has a very friendly relationship with the press.

But even with these advantages, the healthcare debate has not gone in his favor with conservatives and moderates in both the Democratic and Republican parties challenging his vision of reform.

Indeed, the healthcare debate has revealed a deep ideological divide in America and reinvigorated the fiscally conservative base of the Republican Party that was largely dormant for the last ten years. What's more important is that this Republican base has successfully galvanized a majority of the population in vocal opposition to Obama's vision of healthcare reform.

This debate has effectively defined Obama as a Leftist ideologue whose vision of America is radically different from that of the American majority. This redefinition is crucial because it drives a wedge between the president and moderate Democrats in the House and Senate.

Without these moderate Democrats, Obama will be unable to enact healthcare reform as well as other crucial legislative initiatives such as immigration reform during this legislative session. Any division between Obama and Congressional Democrats jeopardizes the future success of his presidency in meeting key campaign promises and enacting economic reforms.

Perhaps more importantly, if conservatives in the debate over healthcare reform succeed in painting Obama as a liberal ideologue, he will lose the post-partisan aura that surrounded his early Administration.

His identity as a president above politics has already lost some of its legitimacy with increased sparring between the president and his legislative opponents as well as a troubling lack of transparency in the Administration's conduct. Without his post-partisan identity, Obama risks being dragged into the very same political battles that defined the Bush and Clinton Administrations whose legacies are colored more by scandal and conflict than legislative achievement.

Ultimately, the passage of comprehensive healthcare reform will set the tone for future White House legislative initiatives. The President's legislative agenda is likely to be less successful and ambitious if the opposition successfully drives a wedge between Obama and moderate Democrats in Congress on the issue of healthcare reform.

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