The strong upswell of grassroots support for a real public option in health care reform caught some Party leaders a bit off guard. But what really caught them off guard was the tenacity with which so many of us have doggedly campaigned, no matter what the odds were against it, for that provision to be included in the final reform. No matter how strong our convictions on this matter are though, no matter how determined we are to fight for it, we do not get to vote on the final legislation. Congress in it's collective wisdom will render the final decision which no doubt the President will willingly sign off on.
In reaching their decision I assume some Democratic members of Congress are contemplating the financial hit they may take if the final reform package displease some of their large corporate donors. That's understandable; fund raising of course is a prerequisite to getting elected, or reelected in their case. Leaving aside idealistic notions of why they should even care about getting reelected if prioritizing that goal causes them to vote against the interests of those who voted them into office to begin with, they should contemplate the following also. Would they all be sitting there in Congress today, or at the very least sitting there with the type of majorities that they enjoy with a Democratic President in place to sign the legislation they pass, were it not for the passion and tenacity of the Democratic grass roots in the first place, the fervor of which they witnessed again in the last few weeks? Where would they be now without that type of passionate support, and where will they be tomorrow if it drys up, or perhaps even turns against them?
Democrats in Congress have been delighted with the results of internet based fund raising on their behalf over the last several years. They have come to depend on the enthusiasm of Democratic volunteers to power their campaigns across the finish line to victory in fall elections. The love it when we effectively refute the right wing media slander that has and will continue to pop up against them in coordinated efforts to bring them down.
If they have been surprised, or even a bit impressed by the fervor of a movement that continually has restored the Public Option to center stage after repeated premature rumors of its death, let them ponder what politics would be like for them going forward from here without that type of support to count on. The Democratic Party has been duly put on notice.