The Congressional Republicans have sent the President a letter saying that any summit must be predicated on going back to first principles and resetting the bill to scratch, so it can be rediscussed from the ground up. But they note that Sebelius has already dismissed that option. And they want the Democrat skeptics included too. Plus they want language that nobody will be forced to pay for insurance he doesn’t want. Otherwise, no soap.

Will the President include in this discussion congressional Democrats who have opposed the House and Senate health care bills? This bipartisan discussion should reflect the bipartisan opposition to both the House bill and the kickbacks and sweetheart deals in the Senate bill. Will the President be inviting officials and lawmakers from the states to participate in this discussion?

It looks like they did the Option 1. They’re fighting for the frame. This means that the Republicans have detected and countered the President’s strategy. They’re not walking into it. This has the potential to block any movement on health care “reform”. More importantly, it indicates that the Republicans have calculated that if Obama doesn’t move forward, he loses. This is the downside of any double-down or “all or nothing” strategy. It’s binary. No win means Obama loses.

If the Republicans can pull it off the President will smash himself on the rocks of his ambition. And if he pulls back, the Republicans will have proven themselves a power again; nothing succeeds like success and nobody likes a loser.