Per a request from Organizing for America, my fiance and I went to see a representative from Senator Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) office in San Francisco today. As often happens at these things, there were some surprises. I'll try to relate from memory how it went.
This will be a long entry as I will try to cover every important detail.
I called the senator's office in the morning and asked if it would be okay if we came by at 2:00 PM. (We picked that time slot from a list at the OfA website.) The woman on the phone sounded a little flustered and stated that although they were not made aware of these impending visit requests, and that they were coming in rapidly, that someone would be able to meet with us. She went out of her way to be polite.
When we arrived we found out that we were going to meet in the lobby of the building on Post Street, and not go up to the office. We were directed by security to a small group gathered over by the Market Street side of the lobby. There we found about eight people there, all because of the same OfA (Organizing for America) action. There was also someone there who was some sort of freelance activist, who was filling people in on what was happening, counting heads and collecting email addresses. Her name was Eva.
She told us that groups had been coming in about a dozen for each hour, and that an office rep named John had been coming down frequently to meet with them. She told us that there was near uniformity of opinion amongst the visitors: Everybody was in favor of the public option and passing a robust health care reform, but also, (and this seemed to surprise her), that most were very upset at the lack of leadership on behalf of Senator Feinstein and Democrats in general. That was the more urgent message that people were bringing.
We were aged 40 to 60, mostly white, one Latina and one African American. More women than men. Amongst those who stated their profession, there was a school teacher, an entrepeneurish guy, a mental health professional and a small business person. A few more trickled in as our hour approached.
We all spoke amongst ourselves and listened to what Eva had to say. While we all were there because of the call to action by OfA, we clearly were not a rehearsed, coached, professional group. Most people were there to express their disgust with the current state of medical care and insurance. Our group was almost uniformly in favor of Single Payer. It seems that no one there cared that it wasn't on the agenda, they wanted to tell the Senator that they would rather have Single Payer.
John arrived a little late, for which he apologized. It started off a little rough, with one in our group asking whether Senator Feinstein was going to have any town halls, or whether we were ever going to get to meet her ourselves. He was aiming for a confrontation on lack of accessibility, basically accusing her of only meeting with lobbyists. Another guy took up on that theme and said, sarcastically, "Well why meet with a senator when you can meet with an imbecile!"
So I spoke up and shut that down. I stated clearly (I have a clear, loud speaking voice) that that gentleman did not speak for all of us, and I may have even pointed. Said I appreciated John coming down to speak with us and that I hope he conveys our message to the Senator. I then said that there was near total agreement that everyone here wanted Ms. Feinstein to support the Public Option, and, more than that, that they would rather have had single payer. I asked for assent from the group and got it. Then I, or someone else, I can't remember, started talking about the lack of leadership from the senator on this issue, to which there was also a hearty round of assent.
I then brought up that I was upset to hear about the deal Obama made with big pharma, and that I hope Feinstein doesn't support it when some of us start to fight it. I pointed out that this was a Faustian bargain that the devil will not uphold, when the time comes.
Several people told their stories of how the cost of health insurance is hurting, and how the pernicious practices of the insurance corps are denying them service. Like I said, this was not a politically savvy group; they were unaware that everyone agrees that the situation is bad, and that the job now is to pressure politicians to go in a particular direction. But it was good to hear so many attacks on the insurance industry, the implication being that we don't appreciate that they are controlling the debate.
I and someone else pointed out the huge majority in America that favors a public option, and that its even larger in California. And that started another round of disgust at the way Democrats have failed to take the lead on this. We all stated how we were upset that Senator Feinstein had not publicly supported the Public Option.
That's when I head a surprise: John said that Dianne Feinstein DOES support a public option. Everyone was surprised to hear this, as apparently no one had heard it before. We all re-iterated that she should be more vocal about it. John also said that she was also open to co-ops, so long as there was some non-profit competition for health insurance. I mentioned that I would rather she wasn't open to them, and others said they believed that they were designed by the insurance industry.
(I found it interesting that one gentleman showed up while the meeting was in progress, basically said that he didn't feel his opinion would be supported by the rest of us, and wanted to give his page to the guy and leave. Strangely, from the few comments that I caught, it sounded like he was against the high cost of insurance and health care, and he did have an OfA sheet. I am curious as to what his opinion was that he felt wouldn't be supported by the rest of us. )
Time began to wind down. More stories were told. More emphasis on the lack of Senator Feinstein not being more vocal, not using her influence. I felt it was my last opportunity so I went into something I had prepared: I mentioned that universal health care has been a Democratic Party priority since Harry Truman. Now we have won this election, we have solid majorities, there should be no question for the Senator about how to vote, about whether to make this happen. (I think I got some applause from Eva for that one.)
The discussion after that started to devolve, but there were some more interesting tidbits. We learned that, before this week, most of the visitors to her office were in favor of strong health care reform, but that the phone calls were a mixed bag. He also said that the opponents of health care didn't really have much of a message other than "No No No!"
Take note: our enemies have been working the phones on this all along. We need to overpower that with calls of our own.
At the end, John, the rep from DiFi's office, said we should expect some public statement from the Senator within a couple days, to the effect that she supports the public option.
(I'll believe that when I hear it.)
CONCLUSION:
I encourage you all to check your email from Organizing for America, or click here to sign up at Organizing for America, and sign up to visit your senator or rep. Hell, go visit them even if you don't have an OfA email. This is a very effective counter-attack to the chaotic mobs of the Town halls.
If you go, don't be surprised if you, as a Kossack, are more savvy on the issue. Do what you can to focus the energy in a positive way, direct it towards pressuring your rep to support the public option, not just the abstract "Health Care Reform." You may have an opportunity to educate some people before the meeting. Try to discourage those who have their own axe to grind. If someone with a different opinion shows up, encourage politeness and inclusion.
And if your senator or rep already supports the public option, make a point of their making a point of it! Ask them to be more vocal, ask them to take the lead, get in the media, and encourage their Democratic colleagues to do the right thing.
Let me end on a note of cynicism: This was a very effective action that I and hundreds of others did today. All because of one email and one plan. Why wasn't this done before?
Well, better late than never, I guess.