Mark Ambinder talks to WH today on the liberal revolt. The enws here isnt encouraging which is why we must go to act blue and back up those progressives in congress. DFA is launching a 10 state ground campaign for the pub option and is raising money for it as welll and is FDL. So we must give because the Whitehouse plans to do little despite the growing rebellion from the ranks.
Of note-WH thinks they will whether liberal revolt, work with Baucus, leave pub opt arguements to members of the House who want but POTUS will do no more than he has. WH plans to threaten labor for threatening to choke off money to dems who wont back pub opt. This war has just begun an d it is up to us and progressives on the hill to get done what is right.
UPDATES ON HUFFPO FRONT PAGE RIGHT NOW-
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
White House Will Weather Liberal Anger; Baucus Doubles Down
The White House and Senate Democrats won't buckle to demands from liberals that they revise their health care strategy, officials said today.
A White House official conceded today that Obama would have to weather anger from liberals for a while.
More worrisome, officials said, was the growing belief that Obama's brand is being tarnished. A new Pew poll shows that voters don't think Obama is working with Republican leaders, and that a plurality blame Republican leaders. They believe that Obama's favorability rating declines, largely from independents (and within that group, women), can be reversed if he reminds these voters of the bipartisan instincts in his bones.
Another Pew poll finding underscores a second White House strategy: because conservatives are paying more attention to the health care debate than liberals, the White House needs to double down on its efforts to convince liberals that passing health care will be a major accomplishment.... That's one reason why Obama will be speaking directly to his Organizing for America base tomorrow. ... House Democrats are on a different track, and it's hard to see how it intersects with the White House's. ...Privately, White House aides have communicated to the House leadership that the onus on changing minds about the public plan is on Congress, not on the president.
In private, White House officials are selectively attending to threats that interest groups will work to defeat Democrats who oppose a "public option" in the House and Senate. RIchard Trumka, likely the next president of the AFL-CIO, threatened over the weekend to withhold union support from those politicians. The White House isn't scared. An AFL-CIO official close to Trumka said that no one from the administration has been in touch with him to protest his words or endorse him.
The president continues to operate under the belief that liberals will warm to the bill when presented with a goodybag that includes includes an individual mandate, community rating, guaranteed issue, and a minimum required package. There's no chance, really, that a bill WON'T feature these reforms. Quietly, to secure and keep Democrats on board, the White House is going to bargain, providing inducements, like more money for favored projects, etc., in order to secure individual votes.
On the other hand, the left is getting tired of being given the proverbial back of the hand by a White House that looks at the world in increments of four years, rather than two.
http://politics.theatlantic.com/...