Will losing the public option hurt Democrats in the election?

[LittleBlue]

Public option is dead, it seems.

Will this hurt them in future elections?

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. If at the end of this it is dead, yes..

I will not even vote for a democrat or republican if this does not pass.

But reality is that it is not dead. This is gamemanship

[depakid]

8. Who would be gung ho for going out and working for a DINO?

People will stay home- and that means Blue Dogs with the smallest swings will lose their seats.

Good riddance.

[Triana]

2. YES. n/t

[closeupready]

3. Well they are on the record now, so it depends upon their constituents.

I think it will.

[TomCADem]

4. Yes, Sadly It Won't Hurt Those Dems Who Voted Against It

Because they come from red states.

[freddie mertz]

5. It will if there is any justice.

But I think it is premature to assume that JUST yet.

[thatsrightimirish]

6. Its not dead yet

Only in the finance committee it seems. A public option has passed all other congressional committees.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

25. It ain't over yet

It can be put back in to be voted on in the conference report after both houses report out legislation if not passed out of the full senate after it comes out of finance. Did anybody really expect it to survive in Baucus' committee? Let's not declare defeat on the PO quite yet, shall we?

[closeupready]

7. I also think Obama will be held to blame if REAL health care reform fails.

That is, if there is no public option, reform will have failed, and Obama will be partially to blame.

[Autumn]

13. I agree with you

on that. Not just Democrats voted for him, so did Republicans and Independents who need health care . If he fails on this they aren't going to swallow another line.

[freddie mertz]

20. I for one will hold him accountable, among the many others

Who seem to be marching us to failure and disaster on this issue.

Hope is not dead, but it suffered a body-blow today.

[Autumn]

9. If the public option is

killed Hell yes, it will hurt them. Rightfully so.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Baltoman991]

14. Bull fucking shit!!!

Enough with the lies.

Obama threw nothing under the bus. It's you, the haters of all things Obama who continue to throw him under the bus by repeating lies.

Grow the fuck up and start acting like an adult and deal with truths instead of made up bullshit. That is of course unless you're just a disruptor being paid to spread the bullshit.

[LittleBlue]

17. I have to agree. The talk about his wife's clothing makes us look ridiculous

like we're not serious about politics.


Huffpo and DU should really clamp down on that. It looks silly.

[tekisui]

11. I sure hope they all think so.

[ShortnFiery]

12. Does a bear shit in the woods? eom

[mvd]

15. It's not dead

Even though stupid MSNBC has a "public option defeated" banner on. The M$M can say it all they want, but 4/5 bills have the PO.

[Thrill]

16. Where do you get that? The Public Option is still on

[LittleBlue]

18. We have 5/15 Dems on the Sen Finance Comittee voting against it

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/29/first-public-option-amend_n_303228.html

If this is at all representative, public option is dead as a doornail.

[Baltoman991]

23. Dead my ass!!!

We need 51 votes. 50 plus Biden. If the Republicans and the so called Democrats who are voting against the public option want to play hard ball then so be it.

But there will be a public option because Obama, the majority of Congressional Democrats, and the American people want it.

[Hippo_Tron]

The finance committee is not a good representative sample

A seat on the finance committee is the most lucrative in terms of corporate contributions than any other committee. Therefore dems who prioritize corporate contributions are going to tend to seek out seats on the finance committee. That, of course, doesn't mean that all Senators on the finance committee are on there for that reason but a lot of them are.

[Thrill]

26. You only need 51 to pass it

They just need to vote for cloture. Harkin says he has those votes.

[flyarm]

19. I won't vote for any dem now..I just won't vote! ..period! And they will never see another dime of

my money..nor another day of my free labor!

fuck them!

Oh and by the way..i have great insurance..the best money can buy..but i have fought for national health care for others..not as fortunate as I am..and because i have lived parts of 22 years in Canada and i know how damn good their health care is!

[Pab Sungenis]

21. Yes.

It will make 1994 look like a hiccup.

[mvd]

24. It's sad. If we can't even get a weak public option through..

it could definitely hurt the party, because the party needs its base.

[Vidar]

22. Yes.

[Aramchek]

27. mostly red, just a little blue, huh?

[damntexdem]

28. It's not dead. But if it doesn't pass, it will be a killer.

And the Dems will be dead to me.

[Lord Helmet]

29. This vote is just ONE committee. There are four others that have a strong PO.

[Vinca]

30. It just seems like the canary in the coal mine.

[Lord Helmet]

31. maybe not if the can get everyone to vote for cloture

[ElsewheresDaughter]

32. Absofuckinglutely!

[opihimoimoi]

33. In the End...the GOP will get the hit...the blame....as the Party of NO

its obvious the GOP does not have Americas Best interest in mind...

[rasputin1952]

34. Looking through this thread, I notice that some people say they

will not vote for a D, (or R, obviously), that opposed the Public Option. I find this somewhat discouraging, and just have to wonder if people allow their emotions to override their common sense.

I know emotions are running high, and I'm in favor of a Public Option, hell, I want Universal Health Care, but I also understand how these things work and I know the politics involved. I'm here in Nebraska, I worked hard to get Ben Nelson back into the Senate, and his position on health care reform is appalling to me. Would I work for him again, at this point no, but i would vote in a Primary to get him off of the ballot, that is how the system works, moving one aside to get someone more palatable on the ballot to run against an R opponent.

To be sure, not everything Nelson has done has been in favor of the R position, he's done some progressive things, and for that, I am grateful. For those things that he has done that were opposite my views, I've let him know that I, and many others, see him as folding under pressure from several entities. I've seen Nelson and others come to their senses when approached sensibly and with facts, it takes work and mere complaining and foot stomping does nothing more than give an individual a sense of letting off steam.

Here's the reality folks...if you don't vote, you give up the election to the R's, is that an option at all?

I want to see the R's stay home in droves, not D's. We have finally placed people in positions to move forward on a host of issues, and rather than write, call or go to Town Hall meetings, the option is to complain on DU about how one won't vote in the next election? Is that anything that could be considered as other than giving up and handing progress a ticket to the back of the line?

My suggestion is to get active, dig in your heels, use your congresscritter's website, phone bank and a host of other means to get the message to these people that they need to get off their duffs and get health care passed.

Even if the Bill that eventually comes out of Congress is less than we want, it is a step forward, and all things in the political world are done incrementally. Medicare was a hard thing to push through, initially, it was far less than what people wanted, but it grew, over time, into a system that has kept seniors and the disabled living longer, better lives. Could it be better, sure it could, (just getting fraud out of the equation would make it solvent for decades).

The whole point of this post is to hope that people who declare, "I won't vote", to rethink that option. To be honest, one of the reasons we are in trouble we are in is because people haven't voted in the past. If we had 95-100% voter turn out, things would be vastly different in this nation, Progressives outnumber conservatives at about 2/1, (neo-cons lose at about 35/1 btw). We need to act, and one way to act is to vote, if you are unhappy w/who is on the ballot, work to change it.

(edited: typo's)

[eridani]

35. Yes. Hard to predict electoral outcomes, though, with Repukes acting so batshit crazy

I forsee very serious problems even with a public option, as all proposals are for delaying it until 2013. That means two election cycles in which Dems will have to explain to people why the health care situation still sucks.

[mmonk]

36. It ain't over until it's over.

But if there is no public option, bank on it.

[trayfoot]

37. Oh YEAH!!!

[harun]

38. Max Baucus is not the Emperor, it is not dead.