At White House, House Liberals Urge Obama To Campaign Harder For Public Option
At a private meeting at the White House yesterday, top House liberals urged President Obama to more aggressively throw his weight into a public campaign on behalf of the public option, a leading House progressive said in an interview.
Dem Rep. Raul Grijalva, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, says that this point was made “emphatically” to the president in the meeting yesterday with House liberals, and that his help was urgently needed in bringing centrist Dems on board.
“We need the full engagement of everybody in this discussion, and that includes the White House,” Grijalva said in characterizing the message that was delivered to the president. Grijalva described the meeting in an interview with Democracy Now, audio of which is here.
Dems have largely refrained from making such a blunt case publicly, not wanting to appear critical of the president. But Grijalva appears to have no qualms about making it.
“We really do feel that engagement from the leader of this nation is vital if we’re going to end up with anything that approaches a robust public option,” Grijalva said.
Strong stuff. I’ve asked Grijalva’s office what the president’s response was, and will update you if I learn more.
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He needs to be more involved in this! He used to be out there drummin gup support, now we don’t hear much from him on this.
amk
“I fully expect Obama to come up with a big final speech on the eve of voting on PO and set the narrative. Yes, I’m that confident about him.”
I just wish he would start sooner rather than later, like now. The progressives are trying to hold the line and already lost the fight for medicare+5, and they hold the majority in the house dems. We can’t afford any more slippage, the bill barely satisfies the call for a PO as it is.
I’m not seeing amk’s comment.
Greg, it’s on the previous thread.
I just saw this as well, Lieberman’s running in 2012?
“As you see, the news today is that Joe Lieberman says he’ll campaign for Republicans in 2010. And really, that’s not too surprising since he did that in 2008. And it’s not like he’s come back to the Dems in any real way since then.”
“What did strike me though is that Lieberman is apparently planning to run for reelection in 2012.”
“That’s surprises me because Lieberman is actually quite unpopular in his home state. And I’d been assuming that he’d play out his time out showboating through this term and then retire. But if he is planning on running again, at some point he needs to start thinking of who he plans to get to vote for him.”
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/10/je.php#more?ref=fpblg
“Dems have largely refrained from making such a blunt case publicly, not wanting to appear critical of the president. But Grijalva appears to have no qualms about making it.”
hahahaha. I don’t think the Progressive Caucus has been that worried about that, given that Russ Feingold decided to get stoopid about the president’s “czars.”
““What did strike me though is that Lieberman is apparently planning to run for reelection in 2012.”“What did strike me though is that Lieberman is apparently planning to run for reelection in 2012.”
WHAT?!??!!!!
I know Tena, doesn’t that sort of change things re: The Filibuster Threat. I don’t know where TPM got the information though.
Greg,
I know it’s sort of early in the day for this and you’ll probably see it yourself anyway, but here’s a good one for Happy Hour.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/luntz-memo-obama-not-so-popularbut-dont-attack-obama.php?ref=dcblt
“I know Tena, doesn’t that sort of change things re: The Filibuster Threat. I don’t know where TPM got the information though.”
Well Imsinca, either Joe is doing this on purpose to get kid glove treatment from Reid or he just handed Reid a great big leverage to use against him. I can’t decide which but in either calculation, the people who elected Joe don’t figure in much, apparently.
Some of us were shocked, I say shocked to see Cheney 2 critcize Obama for flying out to Dover in the dead of night to honor the fallen soldiers coming home from Afghanistan. Bush never would have done anything like that, with a photo or anything. Oh but apparently Reagan did. She’s an idiot.
http://firedoglake.com/2009/10/30/attention-bush-apologists-reagan-greeted-fallen-americans-at-an-air-force-base-idiots/
Sorry meant to add this from the Blue Texan.
“Apparently, their position is that George W. Bush’s refusal to honor fallen Americans as they return to this country for the last time — something his predecessors all did — is proof that a) he loves the troops more than anyone else and; b) because Obama did so, he shamefully, cynically exploited our dead.”
This Grijalva stuff is much ado about nothing. Just fodder for the media and the base.
“Oh but apparently Reagan did.”
Yeah but look at him in the picture, all dignified and white. Reagan is a hero. But Obama is just a secret Nigerian Islamofascist Death Panel-er who hates America and eats puppies.
Or something…
/sarcasm
Greg – maybe you already reported on this but apparently the WH pushed Triggers and Opt Out with CPC
http://news.firedoglake.com/2009/10/30/obama-meeting-with-progressives-and-caucus-leaders-focused-on-triggers-and-opt-out/
I would really like one of the Inside Baseball types to tell me just how Emanuel thinks he’s gonna get around Labor with Triggers
oh, and Stupak’s Anti Choice Temper Tantrum might give CPC more leverage – if they allow Stupak’s amendment (unlikely), then they have to allow CPC’s and possibly even Weiner’s to the floor
“) he loves the troops more than anyone else and; b) because Obama did so, he shamefully, cynically exploited our dead.”
I think the right has convinced itself this is so. I remember that there was an angry letter to the ed in the Dallas News after it decided to start publishing daily the names of those killed in Iraq and the numbers that said just about that. I still don’t understand how keeping the fallen a secret is supposed to honor their memory? It’s a nonmemory – weirdest backwards reasoning I ever saw, and I saw it during Vietnam, too.
I know the rationale that they won’t admit to: if people start seeing the American dead pile up it makes war less appealing.
They learned that from Vietnam and it’s evil, frankly.
” But Obama is just a secret Nigerian Islamofascist Death Panel-er who hates America and eats puppies.
”
Who CAN’T be president because he’s {{{blakck}}}not a citizen!
The problem isn’t Obama but when you have a Senator named LIEberman who point blank says he will filibuster a bill with a public option and will campaign for Republicans in 2010, than you know that 60 votes is going to be VERY DIFFICULT to get even if Obama was pushing super hard on it. I don’t think what Obama does will change who LIEberman is.
Except if Lieberman is really going to run in 2012, what’s he going to run as, a Republican this time?
Hey Maritza! nice to cya!
Lieberman is probably going to stay out of the primaries, and run in the General Election, in the same manner that worked for him the last time.
I would rather have a Republican in that seat than Holy Joe.