I just read that President Obama has told wavering democrats, they can go somewhere else for support and $$$ if they defeat this healthcare bill. He has warned them that he won't lift a finger to help them financially if they vote against this bill. Its about high time he drew a line in the sand..I also think Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Chairman Chris Van Hollen of the DCCC should also come out and draw lines in the sand and tell these wavering conservadems and liberal lawmakers that they won't get one red cent of our money to support their re-election campaign and that they will be on their own and will support other candidates to run against them. Tim Kaine, Donna Brazile, The labor Unions have all drawing lines in the sand. We need more top officials to come out.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/...
Barack Obama threatens to withdraw support from wavering Democrats
Barack Obama has said he will not campaign for any Democratic congressmen who fails to support health care reform.
The president will refuse to make fund-raising visits during November elections to any district whose representative has not backed the bill.
A one-night presidential appearance can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds which would otherwise take months to accumulate through cold-calling by campaign volunteers.
Mr Obama's threat came as the year-long debate over his signature domestic policy entered its final week.
Mr Obama is personally telephoning congressmen who are still on the fence this week, in between several personal appearances devoted toward swinging public opinion.
Yesterday he visited Strongsville, Ohio, home of cancer patient Natoma Canfield, who wrote to the president she gave up her health insurance after it rose to $8,500 (£5,600) a year. Mr Obama repeatedly has cited the letter he received from the self-employed cleaning worker to illustrate the urgency of reform.
Time Kaine also says that democrats who support reform will be rewarded.
Speaking shortly after sitting down for lunch with President Obama, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine offered one of the more explicit carrots yet to Democratic lawmakers still undecided about whether to support health care reform.
Cast a "yes" vote, Kaine said, and lawmakers will be rewarded by the activists in the party and even (he hinted) by the national Democratic groups
"The [Organizing for America] activists are incredibly engaged," Kaine told a group of reporters outside the White House. "They want to see reform happen. Maybe the way to say it is I think they will energetically respond and work very hard for those who were part of this reform effort."
The former Virginia Governor declined to say whether he or others would be deploying any political sticks to go along with the carrots. Instead, he offered a warning to his fellow Democrats: failure to pass legislation could seriously damage the party politically.
"I think it is a much more difficult situation for us," he said. "I think people want to see the governing party govern and with the majorities that we have and with the kind of leadership that we have I think again they are going to reward us for being problem solvers."
Asked about a growing sentiment that those lawmakers who defeat the health care should face a primary challenge in the next election -- a sentiment shared by Democratic strategist Donna Brazile -- Kaine pivoted to the observation that passing legislation would be "the right thing to do from a policy standpoint but it is also politically smart."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Donna Brazile Urges Primaries for Dems who vote against Healthcare Reform
A leading Democratic consultant who serves in an official capacity with the Democratic National Committee has come out in favor of primary challenges to Democratic lawmakers who help kill the president's health care bill.
Donna Brazile, who is the Vice Chair of Voter Registration and Participation at the DNC and a top-ranking strategist within the party, said on Monday that Democrats who "decide to defeat" the health care bill "deserve to get a primary challenge" in future elections.
The one-time Al Gore presidential campaign manager told the Huffington Post that while at home in Louisiana she had "decided to stop pretending that I will go back to support anyone not backing health reform."
Brazile declined to elaborate, but made her view clear in a tweet she wrote shortly after President Barack Obama made an impassioned health care speech in Ohio on Monday.
I think we need to have a huge coalition of top democratic strategists and bloggers from Paul Begala, Howard Dean, Markos, Arianna Huffington, all the Top Unions Presidents, Top Democratic African American strategists, Hispanics Stratagists, Top GAY/LESBIAN activits, Women's Groups, AARP, etc to all start coming out and saying that we WILL NOT SUPPORT ANY DEMOCRAT WHO VOTES AGAINST THIS BILL. There is no fear with these wavering democrats. We need to start seeing Top Officials from all categories on television declaring a line in the sand to these wavering democrats. The point needs to be LOUD AND CLEAR, I don't care what district you belong too, I don't care what your think is wrong with this bill, If you vote against this bill, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!!! NO MONEY, NO VOTE!!
Right now we have 200 "NO" Votes and Nancy Pelosi needs a total 216 to pass this legislation. Will she have the votes?