Were you a strong supporter of Obama? Hey, you too? Back when he was lagging by 20 pts. and the pundits dismissed him from having a winning chance, I was part of our tightly-organized campaign to GET THINGS DONE.
It's time for those who phone banked and wrote letters to get back down to it. We need to be the change, we need to feel the hope, and this time it's health care reform that's at stake. It's time to hold Obama's feet to the fire, exactly as he asked us to do, because we cared then and we still care. Do we want to be drowned out by the voices of Washington politics-as-usual? The same old, same old? No! It's the hour of hope; the time for cynicism is no more.
Let us be be heard once again, so that our President, Barack Obama, who I am proud to see elected at last, enact the immediate reforms needed for health care. Let me explain what we have to do TODAY, in the spirit of the original Obama Campaign.
Reading this diary, I reflected upon how we were taught a lesson about organization by the campaign, a lesson about HOW to reach out and make change. We did it. We've done it. Now we have to keep on top of it.
Dailyfare said:
Barack Obama's campaign theme was asking his supporters to not only believe in his ability to make change, but to believe in theirs.
It's not about President Obama; it's about those who want the public option hounding every last member of Congress until it's done
.
And I agree.
We have phoned Congress, and we need to keep contacting Congress. We need to keep calling the House Progressives. We haved phoned the Senate, and we need to keep contacting the Senate.
But right now, we need to reach out to the White House, to Barack Obama himself, to remind him that we still believe he represents the American peoples' best interests toward meaningful Health Care Reform. And not just ANY reform, not some watered down reform that will implode like the Death Star before it ever gets started, but real reform that will change the lives of real people.
As buhdydharma said:
THIS IS OBAMA TIME!
The Senate Bill will shortly be merged with the House Bill:
The next step is merging the whatever the final House Bill contains with what the final Senate Bill (that is being merged now) contains.
Traditionally and historically in the 'small r' reconciliation process where the House and Senate bills are merged, the House ends up "losing out" to the Senate. In other words, the language/policy contained in the Senate Bill is more "powerful" when it comes to merging the work of the two legislative bodies.
So if the Senate Bill has no Public Option then when the House and Senate go to merge It will be MUCH less likely that a strong, inclusive, non triggered Public Option will be included.
If Harry Reid presents a Senate Bill without a Public Option, it is a HUGE obstacle to overcome.
So it might seem that we are, as the Irish say....fooked.
Because NOBODY is betting on Harry doing the right thing, right?
So that leaves us only one real HOPE for CHANGE.
THIS IS OBAMA TIME!
Literally, only Obama can get Reid to include a Public Option in the final Senate Bill.
If Obama doesn't MAKE Reid put it in, the Public Option will not be in the final Senate Bill.
It is ALL on Obama now.
Who is Barack Obama but those who elected him?
Whose interests does he serve?
Who loves him back?
Who wants the best for the American People?
Who wants Corporate profits to never come between us and our bodies or the bodies of our children, our grandchildren, and our loved ones?
Who made calls for Barack, to GOTV, to phone bank, to come together and grow our community, to talk to the nay-sayers, to blog, to donate, to fight for a landmark historic moment, to write letters to the editor, congress, the senate, who handed out fliers at campuses and registered voters, who stood in the cold, who didn't want to make one more damned call to Puerto Rico but did anyway?
This is where you contact the White House, to say
"Hello, Remember me? I was one of your staunchest supporters. Your vision for America has been deeply inspiring and I'm proud to call you my President. But the hour is upon you to fight the same corporate interests that you talked about every day on the campaign trail, to resist the insurance companies and other influences that will block a robust, inclusive public option. President Obama, I supported you and voted for you, and I ask you to please PUSH for a real public option, because I don't want triggers, co ops, pilot programs, or any other weak corporate public option. President Obama, I supported you and still support you. I didn't work so hard on your campaign so that Harry Reid could make this decision on my behalf. I worked for you. We are the change. Thank you for winning that Nobel Peace prize all over again by bringing more justice to all with the public option. I don't want to leave it to the Senate, so I make this simple request for you to please ensure the best, most fair, most Democratic outcome for all."
Or to say whatever you like, whatever moves you. You were moved once, be moved again.
Email: http://www.whitehouse.gov/...
CC: info@barackobama.com
Call: Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD
Comments: 202-456-6213
Visitors Office: 202-456-2121
Twitter: @whitehouse @BarackObama:PUBLIC OPTION NOW! NO TRIGGERS! NO CO-OPS! NO OPT OUT! PUBLIC OPTION NOW!
(hat tip to marabout40)
If anyone has better contact info, or anything to add, please let me know.
We don't need to spend much time arguing right now. There are plenty of diaries for that. Right now, I want to come together again and make change happen, the same way we did when we were 20 pts. down, then 10, then 5, and then won. The same way we did it when WE took Iowa, against all odds. We can help pass the public option. Against all odds.
Please call or email today. This is one phone call or one email. I'm not affiliated with any group whatsoever, and ask only as another Original Obama Supporter who remembers the spirit of the campaign and knows we can tap into all that it was.
For those who weren't part of that original campaign, feel more than free to join in as well. I do not mean, in any way, to exclude you! You are more than invited to reach out to the President and push him for the public option too. We all share in the excitement of standing at the brink of another historic moment that will change the lives of millions of people, that will create a more just society with better health for all, no matter who they voted for, what race, religion, creed, age, or pre-existing condition.
And if you say, but the proposed reforms are so small, well so is the phone call, so is the email.
We are the ones we have been waiting for. - Barack Obama
Bless up!
*Hey! Thanks for my 1st Rec List (wasn't expecting that). This one's for all of us, so I'm very glad to see it in a useful spot!
Updated to remind us all that the clock is ticking and time is of the essence: but despair is not the answer, calls and emails are.
We must counter McJoan's report that the White House's current move is toward an embrace of the Republican Snowe Trigger. We can speak more loudly and more firmly than one Republican whispering in Obama's ear. Let's be the angel on the other shoulder, stat!