The writing is on the wall, folks.
After many more twists, turns, and amendments, a Health Care Reform package with a public option will come up for a cloture vote in the U.S. Senate sometimes in the next month or so. That much is clear.
Equally clear, at least to me, is that Democrats like Senators Baucus, Bayh, and Landrieu will NOT support a GOP filibuster, even if they ultimately vote against the bill in an up or down vote.
That much cannot be hoped or expected from Joe Lieberman, who has been a consistent thorn in the side of progressives on some of the most important issues we face.
Something must be done. And we need to have a strategy planned out way in advance.
But what? Of course, Harry and Rahm and the big "O" will be doing what they can inside the beltway. But we the people have a role, too.
Taking a page from our fearless leader's playbook, we should probably avoid demonizing the enemy (in this case, Joe.) Outright aggression and cries of "traitor!" won't do a bit of good in securing the magic 60.
Something more nuanced and creative is in order. My first thought is a high profile, clever ad campaign. Ground zero? Connecticut. Something with the visual panache of the Obama "hope" poster, but with the single-minded goal of pressuring Joe Lieberman to grant the health care bill an up-or-down vote.
I'm thinking perhaps of a simple, direct message, like "Up or Down, Joe!" on billboards and signs across the state.
Is it just me, or does Lieberman's cloture vote seem to be the single biggest threat to the kind of health care reform we've needed for decades? We should be pulling out all the stops to get this done. I mean bus trips, billboards, grassroots media blitz...the whole megillah. And probably something along the lines of having folks (respectfully!) follow Joe wherever he goes, making sure to get the "Up or Down, Joe!" sign in every photo op. And when he holds a presser or a townhall, having people get to the mics to simply ask that question and sit down. No aggression or bloviating necessary, in stark contrast to tea party antics.
How can we get this rolling? Or...is there something already in the works that I should be aware of?
If there ever was a time for this community to coalesce around a direct action, its now! Let's DO SOMETHING!