Open Threads

This:

I’m not an “activist” in the classic sense of the term, and I don’t have my own blog. I am not a bagger of any kind, Tea or Fire. I am a professional political operative in Washington DC who tries to elect Democrats for a living. I have spent many late nights and many early mornings working for people and causes I believed in, and I’ve moved to faraway cities away from my friends and loved ones for low pay in order to get people elected who I thought at the very least shared my instincts for moving the country forward.

And if the House doesn’t pass health care, modified in reconciliation or not, because Scott Brown beat Martha Coakley, I am fucking done. That is it. To see my party abandon the most important domestic goal of the past fifty-odd years right as it sits on the one-yard line because Blue Dogs took a fraidy-pee and progressives took a snit is more than I frankly can handle. It’s awful to feel as if my professional and personal commitments have been so cavalierly pissed on because of overreaction to some colossal stiff beating a shitty candidate in my home state.

I’ve been saying this since day one on every measure that matters, whether it be DADT, or what, the problem is Congress. The Democrats have too many internal divisions, and the Republicans have too much unity to simply oppose, and they all know they have a golden parachute in lobbying or on Wall Street no matter what happens.

From the CommentsPost + Comments (130)

Yes, I heard about Pelosi. Keep calling your Reps. I want to know who won’t vote for the Senate bill and why. They need to know how many of us are losing our heads over this. Just do it. And keep emailing me what you’re hearing, or post it in the comments.

Doing Our Own Whip CountPost + Comments (32)

By reader demand, here are some tips for reaching your Representative.

(1) Use a phone. Email has nigh on zero impact. Trust me on this. Letter mail gets read, but you don’t have time. Reach the House switchboard at (202) 224-3121 .

(2) Remember, this person works for you. You pay his or her salary and you voted for them. You’re the boss here, or at least one of them, and it’s they who should worry about what you think of them.

(3) Identify your name and the town or neighborhood where you live. If you are not a constituent, save your phone bill and yell at the TV.

(4) State the issue. This is easy: pass the Senate bill or the party gets it. We can (and certainly will) fix the shortcomings later.

(5) How strongly do you feel? Don’t apologize about feeling passionate or pissed off. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

(6) What are you going to do about it? Again, squeaky wheel. Will you reward good behavior with money or volunteers? Support a primary challenger if you feel let down? Stay home in November? Do you belong to a group who listens to your opinion or feels the same way you do? This part will get their attention and get the message passed on. Do not forget it.

One last, important point. We want to track where Representatives are swinging on this and who is willing to commit. However your Rep’s intern responds about the Senate bill, please email me or post it in the comments. We are most interested to know who is voting yes, who will vote no, who will not commit and whether the abortion language is a problem with conservative Dems.

***Update***

Think that we can trust them to get this right? Once again, Josh Marshall.

According to Majority Leader Hoyer, at the House Dems caucus meeting this morning, the leadership presented no plan or options for moving forward to get reform passed.

This is urgent. Call your Rep today.

Calling Your Rep, RepostedPost + Comments (84)

Bart Stupak claims that he has 10 or 12 votes to block the Senate bill because it doesn’t go far enough on abortion. Needless to say, I think that Stupak’s office is dying to hear from any of you who live in his district.

But maybe we can find out who these 10 or 12 Democrats are, or whether they exist at all. If your representative seems like someone who might support HCR and might kill it over abortion, call him or her and find out where they stand. Email me (Tim F, not John Cole) about what you’re hearing back from them. The important questions are (1) is he or she inclined to support the Senate HCR bill, and (2) whether the Nelson language really be enough to kill his or her vote.

A little later today I will announce a slightly more organized plan that reader mcc and I are working out to track who stands where on this.

Et Tu, Bart?Post + Comments (43)

Those of you who feel confident to let Democrats play n-dimensional chess on health care need to read Josh Marshall’s front page. No particular post, just scan the whole thing from bottom to top. The message from all over DC is that Dems have no idea what to do right now. They’re terrified and adrift. This idea that leaders are calmly pushing pieces around a sand table is insane.

Take Barney Frank. Last night he declared that the whole enchilada was cooked and we might as well give up. That’s like a startled alpha deer running into a tree and knocking itself out. Way to lead the herd. Frank defended himself repeatedly to baffled constituents and then he walked the story back almost a full day later. If Frank is one of our best, I hate to imagine how the rest of our caucus feels.

Don’t call a Congressperson because he or she will turn around and do what we say (if you’re new at this, they won’t). We should call because the caucus will meet tomorrow and probably a few more times after that, and then the Democratic majority will have a plan. Maybe the plan will involve fighting like hell to get HCR done before some other stupid thing happens, but it seems a little Charlie Brownish to feel confident about Dems doing anything that productive. If Reps show up buzzing about noisy supporters demanding HCR then we stand a slightly better chance than if they show up dwelling on their usual phobias turned up to eleven.

At least that’s my view. Small chance of having a meaningful impact, etc. etc.. At least it vents the frustration better than yelling at pseudonyms on an internetblog.

Last Point About Calling Your RepresentativePost + Comments (79)

It sounds like the House liberal caucus is a big part of the problem. They simply do not understand that if the Senate bill goes nowhere, health care is over. Kaput. And so is their party. Those of you who live in their districts know who you are. First thing tomorrow, get calling!

Call Your Congresscritter UpdatePost + Comments (140)