It seems like a fait accompli that we will not get a public option in this bill. I don't think this makes any real people happy - just juristic ones. The conservatives don't want a bill of any sort; those like myself, who believe that the current bill will create more problems than it solves, ardently oppose this one. Not even those who argue most stridently for this bill's passage are happy about it, as far as I can tell. What now?
It seems to be a truism that midterm elections are about turning out your base. People who don't care about politics apparently don't vote unless its for President (or if you live near me, they'll show up in any weather to vote down a raise for teachers).
My Republican friends assure me that the tea party will show up and vote for whomever the GOP supports, and that they're overwhelmingly motivated by opposition to what Obama represents. Who knows how much those anecdotes are worth.
As to the Democratic party - some of us are upset about the way this went. I'm not going to rehash our feelings or reasoning - they're abundantly available on this site. There is a saying, "amateurs study strategy; professionals study logistics". I worry that most of what I've read about this coming November is strategy (what message to convey, what attacks to use, what candidates to elect, which to defeat), and I've seen nothing about logistics (how do you get people to donate their time, money, and votes). Without the logistical prerequisites, a brilliant strategy is worthless.
I would like to suggest to those who want this bill passed that you are in a more delicate position than those of us who oppose it. I know - that is partisan and unfair - please keep reading:
You are happy enough with this bill to support it. You are confident you want the Democrats to do well this November. Some of us who don't support the bill are more ambivalent. What techniques are in use to convince us to line up with the party?
Well, we've been marginalized, like in the DPC report's "Responding to Opponents" section, which does not address any of our arguments, we've been told that we were just politically unsophisticated pawns, we've been dismissed as pessimists of the 'chattering class', we've been compared to tea partiers, and we've gotten a lot of the 'greater evil' speech.
I can't speak for everyone who feels the way I do, but personally, none of these arguments make me want to spend my time and money for the DNC this year - and I've been stuffing envelopes for almost two decades. I don't think I'm alone in my ambivalence. I've noticed that makes some of you pretty angry - but as so many of you pride yourselves on your pragmatism, you'll probably get over that. On the other hand, we're idealists - or so we've been labeled, by charitable people on the other side.
Once again, I can only speak for myself - but for me to support the DNC, I need to find my way to believe that having lost my single-issue, and lining up behind the party regardless, I won't just be confirming my gullibility. I need to be certain that what I've fought for won't be pragmatically negotiated away next time. If my ideals are always going to be a pawn in a gambit - Charlie Brown to Lucy's football - then I'm going to have to find a new game.