As the health care fight approaches its end game, how do we, as ordinary citizens exercise power? How do we create enough of a potential cost to deter Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln, or any of the other Democratic obstructionists from using the threat of supporting a Republican filibuster to gut the best opportunity for health care reform in forty years? These are small-state Senators, so most of us aren't constituents. As a result, we've watched, cursing and fuming, as they've rejected effective and popular approaches--like a House version that includes a serious public option and covers the costs by taxing the wealthy--in favor of a highly regressive package almost certain to feed political backlash. They're likely do the same on global climate change, and every other key issue.
But suppose major progressive groups circulated an online petition where people pledged to support primary challenges against any Democratic Senator who backed a filibuster. They could still vote their conscience, or lack thereof, and refuse to actively support bills or amendments they disagreed with. They just couldn't empower Republican efforts to completely block an up-or-down vote.
Obviously, the more people signed such a pledge, the more of pressure it would create for these Senators to back down from completely being loyal soldiers for the insurance companies. Enough people just signing and pledging could make the difference in this, but to give the threat more credibility, the sponsoring organizations could then keep the contact emails of all of us who signed, and then allow the most credible challengers primary challengers to solicit our support. If we had a sizable enough list, it could be a magnet for high-quality challengers to step up--as Ned Lamont did in 2006 against Joe Lieberman. The Senators we're pressuring also happen to come from small states where media is relatively cheap, so the potential money available from such an approach would also go further than in many others, making the list even more of a deterrent.
This kind of petition could also be a credible threat for a longer horizon. Max Baucus runs next in 2012. Popular and progressive Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer is term limited out in 2010. With enough people pledging advance support, this might well encourage Schweitzer to run. When I broached the petition idea to former nine-term Montana Congressman Pat Williams, he loved it, calling it "precisely the way to move the Congress to do what the majority of Americans want."
Forcing Senators like Nelson, Baucus, and Lincoln to respond to the American public would be the right thing politically as well as morally. In a recent Lake Research poll, 64 percent of those surveyed opposed requiring all Americans to buy insurance in the absence of a public option. With a public option included, the margin reversed, and 60 percent supported it. When a recent CBS poll asked how to finance the health care bill, people responded, by a 55 to 37 percent margin, that they should tax those making over $250,000 a year, the approach of Pelosi's House version.
We could also use collective pressure to demand that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee refuse to help any Democratic Senators who support a Republican filibuster. This seems a reasonable line to draw, given how destructive the resistance of this small group has been to the Party's ability to build on their electoral mandate and act. Others have talked of a pledge to refuse to donate or volunteer for any particular candidates who'd cross that line. But withholding money or support in the general election is a risky game of chicken, where we if we lose, we're guaranteed an even-worse Republican. Primary challenges have a chance of actually ending up with a decent Senator who represents their constituency.
Given enough visibility, I'm confident that such a petition could draw a couple hundred thousand signatures. And if enough people did sign it, this just might keep these obstructionist Senators honest enough to do what they should have to begin with, in actually working to pass good Democratic bills, and we won't need to go out on a limb recruiting and supporting new challengers. Think of how Arlen Specter has become more progressive since the primary challenge of Joe Sestak. The challenges here would be more hypothetical, but they could well have the same positive affect. A petition with enough signatures would also give Harry Reid some leverage to stand up more firmly when merging the two Senate bills, or to pursue the reconciliation option that allows passage of key sections with just 50 votes. It will also encourage Nancy Pelosi to continue drawing the line for a strong public option and progressive taxation when the bills go to the joint Senate-House committee. If we can get the obstructionists to realize their lack of loyalty might just cost them their Senate seats, they might actually be the ones to back down.
Paul Rogat Loeb is the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, named the #3 political book of 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association, and Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time, whose new and completely revised second edition will be published March 30, 2010. See www.paulloeb.org To receive Paul's articles directly email sympa@lists.onenw.org with the subject line: subscribe paulloeb-articles
UPDATE:Responding to some of the questions.
I've actually been talking with MoveOn, Democracy for America, and Progressive Democrats of America about the idea. All are considering it, but if anyone reading this works with any of those groups, or any others large enough to launch this and wants to confirm that you think it would be a good idea, please do. That was part of the idea of posting it. FireDogLake is another one that could pull it off. Or Bold Progressives.org The Progressive Change Campaign Committtee
Otherwise, I'll post an update as soon as someone goes ahead with an online petition. It will take a group with a decent outreach list, but my sense is that as soon as one group starts circulating this kind of petition, others will join in to support them
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David Cay Johnston: GOP Favors Public Option for Property, Not People
The bias in favor of property over people should be ended with all deliberate speed by raising the standard for people to that of property. A public option would be one small step in that direction.
In fact, the mere threat of an independent progressive siphoning off votes might well serve our purpose.
Chase Price
Portland, OR
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/john_wesley/.
This is our time, this is our moment, and this is our place to take back America.
Please do all YOU can on Tuesday? http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/oct20hostattend/
Dan
Yesterday, I watched a program on LinkTV in which J.R. Reid (who traveled the globe investigating the countries with universal healthcare and author of "The healing of America: a global quest for better, cheaper, and fairer health care") said what it took to bring about real change in healthcare was a reformed-minded and impassioned leader who rightly identified healthcare reform as a moral issue. Such leadership catalyzed the masses, who in turn brought about the change that they wanted and needed. In Canada, change started with one province; the others followed to the point where nationalization of healthcare was an unavoidable outcome.
While a petition may start and take on the appearances of such a movement, we still lack the impassioned leadership, the great reformer. Sadly, President Obama is behaving too much like a politician on this issue. I fear that in the end, we will be forced to buy insurance policies from the for-profit insurance industry, a possibility that strikes me with horror.
But if you start the petition, I'll sign it and I'll seek out others to sign it. Just let me know where and when.
Progressives and liberals need a third party to offset the influence of the sane corporate party and the insane corporate party.
The problem for the Democratic party seems to me to be that it's former easy attitudes must be tightened if it wishes to not become the new National moderate conservative party. The Democratic Party label should not be allowed to become a flag of convenience for conservative politicians. The party's platform and it's leadership must be respected by party members. If DINOs want to be independent, they should register as independents. At the minimum, party members should support cloture votes in the Senate, however they choose to vote on the underlying bills.
as a general rule, incumbents don't get elected who fail to represent the voters. Baucus was just re-elected and has been repeatedly.
I know that the lists he had for his campaign are not coming to his side to back health care, because he has drawn no lines, and seems to expect us to back a plan for mandated insurance without him directly asking for a very strong public profit option.
The center will lean left this time around, if we actually give them something to believe in.
A Democrat in San Fran has no shot of winning in other places . . . while a Democrat in Texas is considered a Republican in San Fran.
Representing their Constituents is what they are SUPPOSED to do!