Steve Hildebrand is threatening to run a primary challenge against Blue Dog co-chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin if she votes against the health reform bill:
Senior Obama campaign official Steve Hildebrand is eyeing a Democratic primary challenge to South Dakota Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, a decision he said hinges largely on whether she votes against health care reform later this week.(...)
"I want to see how she votes on health care," Hildebrand said. "If the vote is very, very close and we lose it or come close to losing it, I will take a serious look at challenging her."
In response, Jane Hamsher argues that Herseth Sandlin's opposition to the health reform bill is because of choice (emphasis in original):
Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin holds down a tough seat for pro-choice Democrats. She's in an R+9 district, and that's a tough thing to do for a pro-choice woman.
But the Democratic establishment are now out to torpedo any woman who sticks up for choice. Steve Hildebrand - Obama's Deputy Campaign Manager, who called up rich donors and told them to cut off 527s during the campaign - is threatening to primary her if she defends a womans' right to choose from Ben Nelson's assault: (...)
Let's just be very clear about what's happening here. There were forty-one members of Congress who signed Diana DeGette's letter saying "We will not vote for a conference report that contains language that restricts women's right to choose any further than current law."
And now, if any of these women wants to keep that pledge to defend choice, Obama's deputy campaign manager - the guy that controls the cash - is threatening to run them out of office for doing so.
Um, Herseth Sandlin's opposition to the health reform bill has nothing to do with choice:
In the many instances where she stated her opposition to various health reform bills, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin has never even mentioned reproductive rights. In fact, she opposed the bill before the Stupak amendment passed or the Nelson language was added. She is not an outspoken defender of reproductive rights, and has compromised on it in the past.
If you oppose the health care package because of the reproductive rights language in it, great. But that is not why Stephanie Herseth Sandlin opposes it, and it is not the basis of Hildebrand's threatened primary challenge.
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