I hope the Dems in these negotiations understand what they'll be facing in 2010 if they don't produce a health care bill. The Tea-Partiers will be out for them regardless, and the Rep party will be engorged with corporate money now that the Supreme Court has lifted all of the limits. The only hope the Democrats have of modest (vs v. large) midterm losses is a decent progressive turn-out, and progressives are frustrated/alienated/downright furious right now. If the Dems don't cobble something together, I hope they are ready for the pleasures of being in the minority.

But is time really of the essence? It isn't as if the Senate bill turns back into a pumpkin at midnight. The impression I get is that the more time passes, the more congressional Dems are getting past the Coakley-Brown trauma.

Call Evan Bayh and the rest of these weaklings and tell them to get on board or kiss their careers goodbye.

Political fundraising season has kicked in to high gear, and so far I've gotten 4 phone calls begging for donations, from the party and from others who normally support Democrats. I've told them all the same thing: tell your guys that until health care passes, my wallet remains shut. And if they don't pass it, I won't be bothering to show up to vote, either.

Hopefully when this filters through all the channels they'll take notice.

I'm with Jennifer. Every day that passes, HCR becomes less likely and more people go without health care or bankrupt their families and we do not start reigning in health care costs. He who hesitates is lunch.

Make no mistake: if there is no healthcare reform, (and it is not passed very soon,) many Democratic voters will stay home in the next election. There will be no sense in carrying water for these politicians. There is no sense in voting for spineless useless dumbbells. Democrats may easily lose control of one or both houses of Congress.

Make no mistake: if there is no healthcare reform, (and it is not passed very soon,) many Democratic voters will stay home in the next election.

I suspect the problem is a lot of Democrats in Congress are making a "mistake" with respect to voter turnout and HCR. For one thing, I reckon many of them are hearing from the hard left of the party -- a segment that includes many of the most politically active Democrats -- and that what they're hearing is "kill this terrible corporatist giveway to the health insurance industry and give us single payer." Where are the huge demonstrations -- especially in Washington -- demanding that Democrats Pass The Damn Bill? Not too long ago it seems progressives were good about organization protests and demonstrations. What happened?

I think that turnout for the Democrats would indeed be a lot better if the GOP were campaigning on a platform of "repeal the bill." That's a pretty crystal-clear message that ought to get a lot of progressives -- and a lot of the traditional Democratic base -- to the polls. But it's pretty clear that a lot of Democrats in Congress don't see it as I do. Hopefully they're not in the majority.

Also note, Cohn reported that the administration may be offering mixed messages about reform, but "sources say that President Obama himself remains absolutely committed to pursuing comprehensive reform -- more so, in fact, than many of his political advisers."

Which is why he needs to fire that worthless s.o.b. Rahm Emmanuel and pack him off to Hollywood where the only harm he can do is to fuck up movies with his little brother Ari.

Steve and Respondents:

I like the collective wisdom of these comments (combined with the post) a lot. Like Jasper, I fear that Democratic Representatives are NOT getting a lot of pressure from constituents. Like WSP, I think this lack of pressure is (could be) leading in directions (letting HCR die) that are politically suicidal for the very Democrats taking them. Finally, like Jasper again, I think the answer is organized mass action, an action that seems increasingly impossible with a fragmented Left.

But doesn’t Jennifer point to a kind of action that really might be possible and might succeed? Everybody on the activist Left right now is sour and depressed - not in a giving mood. Why not institutionalize this? Why not start a campaign: “No Money or work for Democrats (or their organizations) until universal HCR is passed”?

Get this moving in the Lefty Blogosphere, maybe on Kos and a few other places; perhaps expand it to Moveon. Because the people who say this would be exactly the “bread and butter” base of the Democratic Party, politicians would sit up and notice much more than they notice the dyspeptic rumblings of a few like Jennifer and me.

But I’m no organizer: how would one get something like this going?