Dean: "There Will Be Primaries" For Dems Who Vote Against Public Option

Former Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean fired one of the clearest warning shots at hesitant Democratic lawmakers on Thursday, insisting that if the party was unable to produce a health care bill with a public plan, there would be electoral consequences.

"I do think there will be primaries as the result of all this, if the bill doesn't pass with a public option," Dean said, in a phone interview with the Huffington Post.

The former Vermont governor added the caveat that he thought "cooler heads" would ultimately prevail and that a government run option for insurance coverage would be passed. But his remarks are some of the most threatening yet to be directed at Democrats from within the party.

Dean, who is a keynote speaker at the Netroots Nation conference at Pittsburgh this week, said he was "in favor" of holding recalcitrant senators and congressman accountable on health care related issues.

As he has done before, Dean criticized talk of substituting a government run program with co-operative insurance plans, calling the latter a "fig leaf."

"This talk about co-ops is a political compromise it is not a policy compromise," he said, of the discussions currently underway in the Senate Finance Committee. "And I think most people, on both sides of the aisle know that co-ops won't work."

Asked about a column by long-time Democratic strategist Paul Begala, urging progressives not to shy away from tackling health care in a more incremental approach, Dean shot back: "The public option is incrementalism.... But there is no incrementalism without the public option." He explained: "If you don't have a public option this bill is not even incremental, in terms of adequate health care reform... Paul is not entirely wrong. It is just that the last shred of reform is the public option."

As for the reported deal between the White House and Big Pharma, in which the government would refrain from using its purchasing power to lower drug price in exchange for $80 billion to expand coverage and help with reform, Dean called the topic a "side show."

"I'm not going to comment on those things," he said. "I'm not going to make other criticisms. Would I do this bill differently? Sure, read my book. But I'm not going to criticize the House or the Senate because they have the hard job to do. They have to vote. They have to make all these different constituency groups mad."

Dean was more willing to weigh in on the eruption of town hall protests and spreading of disinformation about the president's health care agenda by conservative media figures and lawmakers. He said he was "disappointed" in Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R-Iowa) - one of the chief Republican negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee - for perpetuating the patently false rumor that Obama was setting up death panels that would "pull the plug on grandma."

For Dean, those remarks only confirmed a long obvious reality. "I think the Republicans have no interest and they have never had an interest in a bill," he said. "[Sen.] Jim DeMint, (R-S.C.), spoke for the Republican Party when he said what we want is to make this Obama's Waterloo. It is exactly what they did 15 years ago. They don't have an interest in the bill because they believe they can hurt Obama. They have basically put their party ahead of the country."

All of which, he concluded, might not be a bad thing in the long run. The earlier the White House realizes it's negotiating against itself, the quicker it can produce a bill that better satisfies the people who actually got the president elected.

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Comments

[nikto]

08:41 PM on 08/24/2009

The Blue Dogs need to be sent to the pound & put to sleep.

[marinade]

02:38 PM on 08/15/2009

Members of Congress deserve to be scored on their health care reform involvement. How they vote is not enough. People need to take into account whether the lawmakers made real efforts or whether they sat on the sideline letting others do the hard work, or whether, like Grassley, they tried to sink true reform with lies.

[John Mainstream]

01:34 PM on 08/15/2009

President Obama has stated repeatedly that he does NOT support single payer. Does Howard Dean plan to run against President Obama in the primaries?

[KNadine]

02:31 PM on 08/15/2009

Single Payer & a public option are 2 different things

[Bongborg]

08:28 AM on 08/15/2009

Republicans spend all their time trying to make the people speaking sense seem crazy, and the people speaking nonsense seem sane.

[Keith52]

08:22 AM on 08/15/2009

Bravo Dr Dean. Yes we made a big mistake not to get him nominated in 2004. I am very proud to be a Democrat these days, with people like Dean out there making sense, speaking clearly and fearlessly.

[eXcommunicate]

03:15 AM on 08/15/2009

Dean should have been our nominee in 2004.

[KNadine]

02:27 PM on 08/15/2009

Probably would have been if it had not been for the media's constant looping of a "hoot". Kinda like the media is keeping the pot stirred focusing on Townhall meeting fights instead of the actual Health Care debate. I seriously don't know why ppl refer to the media as the "Liberal Media". It's more like "Me Media".

[kd1s]

02:27 PM on 08/14/2009

Bravo! We need to make sure our elected representatives pay the price for blocking a public option.

[Paul Schwartz]

09:58 PM on 08/14/2009

President Obama is the great communicator, but he needs to have other strong personalities on health care backing him up at Town Halls. Though the White House deserves substantial credit for making reform possible, this critical social change for America must not be seen as belonging to the president. He must include others at the podium who can lend their presence, articulate voices and credibility on the issue so it doesn't turn into just an attack on Öbama-Care.: This can include Howard Dean, former insurance executive Wendell Potter, representatives from doctors groups, nurses and others. This may make the difference between true reform and watered-down compromise.

[dredeize]

09:21 AM on 08/15/2009

Great post.

[JohnHKennedy]

02:23 PM on 08/14/2009

Good for Dean.

"if the party was unable to produce a health care bill with a public plan, there would be electoral consequences. "I do think there will be primaries as the result of all this, if the bill doesn't pass with a public option," Dean said, "

There should definitely be a price that all Democratic Politicians must pay
if they fail to support key Democratic initiatives, such as health care, impeachment (Rep. Conyers' failure to allow Rep. Kucinich's Impeachment Bills out of his committee), and enforcement of our Federal Anti-Torture Laws.

We Democrats work very hard to elect them so we have a right to hold a grudge if they don't do what we want them to do.

Keep asking ALL politicians at ALL public events
"Why do they support Torture?"

If they aren't actively calling for enforcement
of our Federal Torture Laws,
They Support Torture.

AND

SIGN THE PETITIONS
Demanding
both a Commission of Inquiry
and a Special Prosecutor
For All Their Crimes

at ANGRYVOTERS.ORG

http://ANGRYVOTERS.ORG

Prosecution Prevents More Torture
.

[vets-widow]

02:04 PM on 08/14/2009

Thank you, Governor Dean. It's past time to make this happen!

[ImpressedByHonesty]

12:36 PM on 08/14/2009

Well somebodys gotta say it!

[DeaconJoey]

10:48 AM on 08/14/2009

Why the hell did we let Rush Limbaugh sabotage Dean's presidential election years back? Thank you for speaking some common sense, Dean.

[Lest We Forget]

12:46 PM on 08/14/2009

If you remember your history correctly, it was the "scream heard 'round the world" and the MSM that killed Dean's campaign.

[PatrickJ08]

03:53 AM on 08/15/2009

he's got some years left too - never know

[2partiessameagenda]

10:15 AM on 08/14/2009

Thanks d for speaking truth to power we elected dems to do things that are democratic until the blue dogs realize we are there constituants not the insure. Ance company they are in deep doodoo come 2010 and independants stay that way when you make statements that are in favor of repubs u are no longer independent u have now picked a side

[arvay]

09:02 AM on 08/14/2009

Finally, an adult.

The game of politics is played like this:

if you support what I want, I will reward you.

If you oppose what I want, I will find a way to nail you.

The rest is blather.

[iceage7]

09:00 AM on 08/14/2009

congreess is bought and paid for. Pay to Play

[PittDude]

08:57 AM on 08/14/2009

I like gov. Dean, but under what authority is he making such a statement. He is not the chair of the DNC any more. Besides, the blue dogs are not going against their constituents, they are trying to appeal to the voters in red/purple areas of the map by not being fully supporters of the bill.

It is all politics, no one does anything because of the right thing. If the public option was unpopular you would have had the democrats and the President himself dropping it. So, why blame the bluedogs, you want them to win in their red states/districts don't you. When they lose, they will lose to Republicans and you lose your majority. I am against fracturing the Dems between conservative Dems and liberals.

[amaboss52]

01:32 PM on 08/15/2009

If they want Democratic support then they need to support the Democratic agenda. We voted the Pres. in because we want public option health care. They know this but are beholding to the Insurance companies that support their campaigns. They line their pockets and get rich off the backs of the American people. Blue Dogs are Republicans in Democrtic clothing. If they dont step up get rid of them.

[HTooley]

01:56 PM on 08/15/2009

He is not making his statements under any authority. It is the reality of what will happen during the primaries next year. For those who disappoint their constituents, they will not go unchallenged during the primaries. For those who have been receiving large campaign contributions from the insurance companies, they may find themselves on the defensive with a sizable number of progressives. Without their support a number of them will lose.

The blue dogs can play a constructive role if the republicans opt out of providing a moderating role in the pending legislation (which it appears Grassley has done). They can move it to 'center / left' from 'center / right'. If they reject that role, then so be it. They should then be viewed as obstructionists and join the other party. A DINO is a subversive force. A blue dog that moderates the legislation is not.

[PittDude]

10:51 AM on 08/19/2009

Thank you for your intelligent thoughts and explanation