Reply #33: The voters are not idiots. The only bill for which she would have been voting would not have a PO

[laughingliberal]

It's like this: HCR bill=No Public Option. Candidate A will vote for bill without public option=voting for a bill I don't want. Candidate B will not vote for the bill=will not try to pass the bill I don't want.

She could stand naked on top of the tallest building and proclaim her belief in the public option but it would not change the fact that, once she said she would vote for the bill, she would be voting for a bill without a public option and all the 'wanting a public option' in the world would not have changed it. That would have done it for me. If a candidate says they'll vote for a bill I don't want to pass and it is the single most important issue on my list, why would I vote for them?

When you're dealing with that large a population of independents, even ones who usually vote Democratic, party loyalty and ideology will not carry far when presented with a candidate who has already said they'll vote for something you don't want. In this case a health care reform bill with no public option. I might have seen it differently and voted for her but I have the perspective of being a party member.