I know that others have done the critical work of organizing and delivering the signatures to Rep Carney (thanks y'all).
Despite the baying on the megaphones, the radial right is not relevant to the debate on health care reform. Sam Tannenhaus discussed this idea with Bill Moyers last week. He said:
Either the Republicans or Democrats have ruled since the Civil War for periods of some 30-36 years. And in those periods, all the great debates have occurred within a single party. So, if you go back to the 1980s, which some would say was the peak of the modern conservative period, the fight's about how to end the Cold War, how to unleash market forces-- were really Republican issues.The chance of a public option, which I think is more about whether a politician can imagine a more radical restructuring of our society versus a kind of apologist, window-dressing, don't-shake-the-table approach, will be fought out WITHIN the democratic party.
Today, when we look at the great questions -- how to stimulate the economy, how to provide and expand and improve a sustainable health care system, the fight is taking place among Democrats.
So, the health insurance industry is against a public option. Who is for it? The public in 91 swing districts.
The poll, by respected Dem pollster John Anzalone, finds that 54% of these swing district voters support the public option, and makes the case that these voters emphatically don’t want a “trigger,” the compromise of choice in some quarters:Geeky stats note- that is 54% with a 2.5% margin of error at 95% confidence interval. In plain English- it is 95% likely that the real support is between 51.5 and 56.5%.
The polling memo does not indicate if they can break it out by distircit, but given they covered 91, I doubt it. So, we don't know or sure if our swing district is like the rest of these.
Some polling of specific swing districts found support for the public option (from a plurality to clear majorities) AND LESS for Obama by name. The message: campaign on the details in these types of districts.
Meanwhile, the DCCC raises money for vulnerable "frontline" dems, like the Blue Dogs who almost always get an allergic reaction to progressive ideas, with appeals to health care reform from Bill Clinton:
It’s up to us to prevent the Republican Party and their special interest backers from doing whatever they can to prevent this historic opportunity to make quality health care affordable and accessible to all.On the bright side, the progressive hosue caucus is holding firm.
For the first time since they formed in 1995, the Blue Dogs have been out-organized by their liberal counterparts. The Congressional Progressive Caucus completed its first survey and began whipping back in the spring. They launched a final whip count last week that will be finished by Wednesday evening.
Maybe they can do so until the Blue Dogs realize that at the end of the day, they want to be on the right side of history here.
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