Until the Red Sox finally won a World Series in 2004, growing up a Red Sox fan was an exercise in eternal optimism and disappointment. Every year I thought "THIS time it will be different", but just when the Red Sox seemed poised to take it home, they would snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Perhaps that's why I chose to be a Democrat. After all, what better example of spectacular, yours-to-lose bumbling than the Health Care debacle, where the election of one man in Massachusetts sent the entire party scattering like mice in the light. As I've posted here, I became gripped with visions that Obama and the party would singlehandedly blow their 2008 electoral mandate by reducing themselves to groveling, sniveling wimps licking the boots of the Republicans.

But I must admit, watching Obama in action, first at the State of the Union, then at the Republic Q&A session, has given me some cautious hope. Far from backing down, Obama's made it very clear he supports comprehensive health care reform. Perhaps I'm Charlie Brown, but I'm beginning to think that this time Lucy won't pull the football from me.

So when I heard that he went on the Superbowl Pre-Game show and announced a bipartisan summit on Feb 25 to compare health care plans, my first reaction was, "Wow, this could be a game changer."

Why is this potentially a very smart move on Obama's part?

1. It will put a lot of pressure on the Democrats to unify their two bills, and then to pass it. They will be under a national spotlight, and if they don't pass it, Obama's positioned himself as the one who tried his best to make it happen. It will be entirely the Congressional Dems who will own the failure. Obama just changed the electoral calculus for them.

2. It will address directly the concerns - some legitimate - among Independents that the Congressional package was the by-product of back-room negotiations. It will create an air of transparency to the entire process, thus paving the way for a Congressional vote. 

3. It will put the Republicans on the defensive. They will be forced to articulate their plan (do they have a plan?) and defend it against the scrutiny of Obama. And this will play squarely to Obama's strength - as he showed in his session with House Republicans, he is masterful at debating policy and demolishing false arguments. And you can be sure that since the White House is setting this summit up, it won't be on a level playing field - the process and format will most decisively favor the President. (And the Republicans will be hard-pressed to complain too loudly about this, as they will risk being seen as obstructionists - see point 2 above).

All in all, this could be the pivotal point in the Democrats' Road to Recovery.

Let's hope I'm right.