[UPDATE #1: WOW! The 'rec list? Thanks everyone. Now let's make this happen!]
This big, big news.
Momentum is shifting our way all across the county!
Via Huffington:
In Boulder, Colorado, "a few hundred residents of one of the nation's more liberal congressional districts turned out Monday night to tell their congressman, Democratic Rep. Jared Polis, to keep that public option, however controversial politically, in the final bill."
But that's all full of liberals right? What about...
In Phoenix, Arizona, "Pro-Obama demonstrators appeared to outnumber the anti-Obama ones, with Phoenix police estimating the crowd at 1,200 to 2,000 at locations around the convention center."
This is a huge shift for the public option movement and let me be the first to say it's about damn time!
More from the article:
"It's the most essential part of the bill," said Leigh Kirkland, in direct response to Sunday's statement from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that the public option "wasn't the most essential" part of the reform package.
In Fork Union, Virginia, Rep. Tom Perriello faced a more divided crowd, "with roughly half the crowd apparently in favor of reform and the other half opposed.
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) "held a spirited but civil town-hall meeting Monday night inside a union hall where his supporters outnumbered critics."
And when Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) held a forum on health care reform he drew an overflow crowd, with a majority on the Democratic lawmaker's side. "A large majority of those present at the first discussion applauded Lujan when he stressed several times that he was in favor of a public option and when Lujan and other panelists criticized insurance companies."
I've been hearing all about the enthusiasm gap between the left and right and I think they were right...until now. People are pissed. Whether it was intentional or not, HHS Secretary Sebelius' comments have enraged the left in the last 48 hours and it's time we progressives make a line in the sand. I'm sick of capitulating to the Republicans who got us here.
That's why I donated through Blue America to help those Democrats in the House who are still fighting for health care reform. (Over 57K raise today alone!) It's why I sign every single petition I get emailed every single day -- god it's annoying though. And it's why I'll be rally outside Ben Nelson's office tomorrow w/ Moveon and SEIU. Because I want the option and I'm not going to let it slip away.
So, what are you doing to turn the tide? How can we help?