"I hope you know what you're doing"
Apparently, this is what President Obama said to Harry Reid last Thursday. Reid was whipping for the opt-out public option, and Obama expressed concern about whether the Senate Majority Leader would be able to garner the necessary 60 votes.
This morning, we hear reports that Obama will support whichever 'public' plan first receives 60 supporters, whether this be the 'triggered' public option or the opt-out. It is hard to read this statement as anything other than a thinly-veiled expression of his preference for the trigger, at least at this stage of the process.
Which makes me want to say: "President Obama, I hope you know what you are doing."
If Obama has a plan for how a non-triggered public option will come out of conference, and this plan is successful, I'll ultimately be satisfied. There is some indication that this might be the case.
But if Obama envisions a trigger at the end of the road, and if we end up with a triggered public option, I won't be satisfied. In fact, I'll be outraged. I hope Obama knows the grave he is digging if he goes this route, especially now that we know how close the opt-out came to Senate passage. I hope he knows what is at stake here.
If we get a triggered public option -- which may very well mean no public option at all -- I will absolutely support a primary opponent for President in 2012, will not give a dime to Obama's presumed re-election campaign nor to the DNC while he remains in office, and will basically sour on him for the duration. I don't say this lightly, and I'm quite confident that I'm not alone.
In the spring of 2008, I took a month off from work in Chicago, returned home to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and worked 14 hour days on the Obama campaign. This was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, as I reconnected with my home town, got to meet amazing local organizers, set up a highly-successful high-school internship program through which I met many inspiring students, and built a lasting friendship with the member of Obama's campaign assigned to our county. In appreciation for my work, I was selected to briefly meet then Senator Obama before his rally in Lancaster, PA. I still remember how warm his spirit was that day.
Since then, on sites like daily kos and open left, I've mostly defended the actions of the Obama administration, even when I've been substantively dissatisfied with them. My primary argument has always been pragmatic: Obama is only one link in a huge chain of governance, and if he gets too far out in front of the rest of this chain, he jeopardizes his entire agenda. But underlying this pragmatic argument was always a sense of trust in the Obama administration, in their commitment to basic decency -- a trust no doubt forged in part during my meeting with the man himself.
Well, that trust is starting to give. And if Obama sells out the opt-out public option -- and for what? -- it will be gone for good. I will come to see the administration as little more than an opponent of progress in this country, and I know I'm not alone. In the 90s, this happened for me when Clinton signed welfare reform into law. I ended up working for Nader in 2000. If it happens with Obama now, I'll simply pour myself into local organizing and give up on national politics, perhaps for good.
President Obama, I hope you know what you are doing.
Update #1: What digby said. Also, with nearly 200 votes registered, 47% are leaning towards supporting a primary opponent for Obama if the bill contains a trigger. Let's make sure Obama knows how risky it is for him to coddle Evan Bayh.