Suspect advice to Obama from the Republicans

Karl Rove writes in The Wall Street Journal that President Barack Obama is stumbling on health care and risks either sparking a revolt against Democrats or a revolt within his own party.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) was inartful but basically correct when he said if Mr. Obama loses on health care, "it will be his Waterloo." It would destroy confidence in the ability of Democrats to govern. Mr. Obama knows this, which is why he will stop at nothing to get a bill, any bill, on which the label "health-care reform" can be stuck.

I don't think so. I think Mr. Rove, Senator DeMint and other Republicans are just goading Mr. Obama into raising the stakes so that they will score a bigger political triumph when Obama's health insurance reform initiative finally either fails outright or produces a monstrosity. What they privately fear, and what Mr. Obama should do, is to quickly as possible throw in the towel on this very badly timed initiative and "look forward, not past" to other more critical matters. Unfortunately, as in Afghanistan, Mr. Obama does not seem to understand that sometimes the best bet is to fold.