Actually, I think the pivot on healthcare was pretty deft. He has a bipartisan meeting.
Then he unilaterally claims to have incorporated some Republican ideas and demands a vote. He’s close to a victory.
He figured out a way to pretend bipartisanship while acting in a completely non-bipartisan way.
Health care is not in a hole because he’s stupid. It’s in a hole because a lot of smart people want to do evil things like socializing (technically fascizing) medicine. And a lot of regular people see it for the evil it is. But Obama has managed to push this recognizable evil uphill despite massive public opposition in a democracy. He is near victory.
He isn’t stupid. He’s evil.
It was a nice try, but I don't think it fooled anybody. The media is currently trumpeting that "he tried to compromise" line, but they're just sycophants and the contention just does not stand up to the slightest bit of scrutiny.
If he does get this through (and I still don't think it gets through the House - not enough kamikaze Dems), it will garner the rage of a significant number of Americans and will cost the Democrats both houses of congress.
The new Republican congress will have their mandate to undo the mess.