With Republicans resisting the push for socialist-ish medicine, Democrats are ready to go it alone – and of course blame Republicans for standing in the way of progress.

Here’s Rahm, via ABC:

“The Republican leadership,” said the White House chief of staff, “has made a strategic decision that defeating President Obama’s health care proposal is more important for their political goals than solving the health insurance problems that Americans face every day.”

Statements like this – sounding like they emerged from some hyper-political messaging robot, as opposed to an actual human being – are what turn off the vast majority of normal people to politics.

But of course the whole idea of “bipartisan” legislation was a sham from the start. The White House wanted Republicans to vote for a Democratic bill; they didn’t actually want to consider any Republican ideas about making health care more consumer-driven and price-sensitive, or strengthening the individual market.

I think Republicans would be happy to have the Democrats overreach and pass a government-focused bill with 53 votes in the Senate to go along with the House. A “White House advisor” told CNN, “If we have to push it through this way, no one is going to remember how messy it was. At the end of the day, they’ll remember we got health care reform done. A win is a win.”

I don’t know about that. The media may not remind people how messy – or ill-considered – it was, but Republicans will be happy to deliver that message.

As RNC Chair Michael Steele said, “You’ve got the votes – pull the trigger!”