September 24, 2010 4:17PM 

# ‘Democrats Guess Wrong on Health Care’ 

By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) 

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*That’s the headline of an article posted this week in [Politico](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42588.html)*:

> divRarely have so many political strategists been so wrong about something so big. 
> 
> But when it comes to the health care bill, everyone from former President Bill Clinton on down whiffed on some of the more significant predictions.
> 
> Democrats would run aggressively on the legislation? Nope. Voters would forget about the sausage-making aspects of the legislative process? Doesn’t seem that way, as the process contributed to the sense that the bill was deeply flawed.
> 
> And Clinton’s own promise to jittery Democrats that their poll numbers would skyrocket after the bill finally passed also didn’t pan out, as the party is fighting for its life in the midterms.

What can explain the miscalculation? Maybe [religious fervor](https://www.cato.org/still-dont-think-universal-coverage-is-a-religion/)?

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) 

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