In which a liberal Democrat is shocked — shocked! — that Barack Obama might not be the best leader on an issue once his own popularity is at stake.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) said Obama has been sitting out the healthcare fight in August.

“We’ve been in a scrap through the month of August, but we really haven’t had presidential leadership in the way we need it most,” Weiner told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow last night.

Now Mr. Weiner knows how the rest of the nation feels. Rather than take effective actions to bring about the end of this deep recession, Obama has implemented policies that have seen a continued hemorrhaging of jobs and 26-year high unemployment.

“If he stands up on Wednesday and says to the country and my colleagues in Congress, ‘We are going to have a public option in this plan because we need it, and here’s why,’ it’s gonna get done,” Weiner said. “If he doesn’t, we’re going to have to settle for less, and that will be a tragedy.”

I always find it amusing that Democrats, who spent the last eight years religiously quoting polls in order to make their case against every aspect of the Bush Administration’s agenda, suddenly could care less about public opinion. Why, it’s almost as if they don’t care what the public thinks about their liberal agenda, they’re going to push forward anyway.

If Weiner is right and Democrats ram through the public option thanks to a speech by Obama, and that’s an entirely plausible scenario, they can kiss their massive Congressional majority good-bye. Americans see ObamaCare for the disastrous legislation it is, from rationing to bureaucrats making your health decisions to costs skyrocketing.

Democrats ignoring the will of the people and pushing forward anyway is a recipe for electoral disaster. And yet Democratic leaders are cracking out the cookbook and flipping through the pages in search of that very recipe. Good for the Republican Party, not so great for the country.