One of the key elements to the Progressive Block strategy on health care is that it was developed jointly by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the progressive netroots. It was neither a strategy handed down to the netroots from on high, nor was it a random proposal cooked up in a comment thread. The idea bubbled up from both groups, in discussions on blogs, email lists and Hill meetings, until it was jointly adopted by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and netroots organizations like Democracy for America and Fire Dog Lake.
This co-equal development of the Progressive Block strategy has the advantage of tremendous buy-in from both groups. Because neither the progressive netroots nor the CPC had to spend most of their efforts convincing the other group to be involved, we could spend most of our time diving right into the organizing.
The fruits of that organizing are now becoming clear. After signals that the public option was about to be thrown under the bus, once again it was saved by a group of 64 members of the House declaring they will vote against any health care reform legislation that does not include a robust public option. This group is reinforced by the thank you calls from netroots activists, expressing their gratitude to those 64 Representatives for their principled, gutsy, vital stance. The end result of this is that the Progressive Block has prevented the public option from being dropped from congressional health care negotiations. In fact, the Progressive Block is right now the only reason the public option has not already been dropped.
As exciting as this is, it is also extremely nerve-wracking to realize that, right now, those of us involved in the fight are the last line of defense for the public option. A few netroots organizations, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and a dedicated corps of netroots activists are the only ones holding the key section of the line in this fight. While there are other people engaged in the fight, there is no back-up for us in the position we are occupying. If the Progressive Block caves, then the public option is simply not going to happen.
As frustrating as Democratic and progressive leaders have often been in key fights, there was always a comfort in being able to critique their efforts and tactics from a distance. In this fight, we don't have that luxury, because we are the leadership. There is no backup.
I am not writing this to either pat ourselves on the back, or to use scare tactics to agitate people into action. This is simply my honest appraisal of the situation. We have to work to keep the Progressive Block together at all costs. Today, that means thanking the 64 members of the House who have said they will vote against health care legislation unless it includes a robust public option. Go to the Democracy for America website, and send off a thank you letter. We can still win this fight, but only if we do everything we can to make Conservadems easier for the Democratic leadership to pressure than the Progressive Block.
Write a thank you letter to a member of the Progressive Block. |
