bottom up change

This is just an addendum to my last post about the surprising number of Americans who believe the falsehoods about health care reform being spread by the tea baggers.  I just returned from San Diego, CA where I was visiting my grandparents and some friends.  At one point I overheard my grandma talking with my grandpa about how she had heard on TV that the government was going to start reducing medical care for seniors to save money.  They were in the living room while I was in the kitchen.  I walked into the living room and my grandpa looked up at me and said jokingly, “Well, they want to get rid of us.  We’ve lived too long.  The government doesn’t want us around anymore.”  I laughed but had to tell them that there was nothing about health care reform that would harm them or any other seniors and that people trying to kill the reform effort were lying to seniors to scare them.  I think they were persuaded by my rebuttal, but it was insightful to see firsthand how the rumors and lies that are being spread on television are worrying senior citizens in particular.

By slamming one of his own constituents for comparing President Obama to Hitler and health care reform to Nazi practices, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) has become one of the heroes of progressives in the health care debate in recent days.   Here is the footage:

Best line: “Ma’am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table, I have no interest in doing it.”  I don’t know why it took so long for a Democrat to finally call out one of these people in this way.  Frank’s rebuttal to this woman is effective because he refuses to even argue with her “vile, contemptible, nonsense”, but he also notes that it is a “tribute to the first amendment” that she is able to speak her mind.  This is exactly how more Democrats should respond to the outrageous lies being spread by the townhall tea baggers.  President Obama cannot speak like Rep. Frank did, but it is noteworthy that just yesterday Obama took a more aggressive tone to those who are spreading the “death panels” lie in a conference call with religious leaders.  Democrats need to follow Barney Frank’s lead and push back in stronger terms against the lies that are starting to have a significant impact on the debate.   As Chris Cilizza reports, a recent NBC News poll found that nearly half of the country believe that government officials will make decisions on the health care of seniors (the death panel fabrication) while over half of the population believe the falsehood that health insurance will be made available to illegal immigrants.

Progressives need to be more creative in their organizing around health care. A look back at the civil rights movement may be instructive.

I’ve been supportive of Organizing for America since its inception–even before we knew what it would be called.  But the sad fact is that on the biggest progressive organizing test of 2009–the health care reform push–OFA and its allies have thus far been out-organized by a bunch of obnoxious, loud, in some cases crazy, but very well-motivated citizens on the right.  The angry town hall meetings over the past few weeks is a sign that all the passion, or at least all the talent for making the news, lies with opponents of reform.  The fact that the media has focused so intensely on the anger among opponents of reform is a major loss for President Obama and OFA.

Some on the left may disagree with me that the scenes of anger at the town halls represent a loss for the President and OFA.  These town halls, they would counter, are “astroturf”, since they are sponsored by special interests and do not represent a large section of the public.  It’s probably true that the people screaming at their representatives and senators are a fringe group of conservatives, and it is true that some special interests are sponsoring the protests.  But it does not follow that these protests are therefore artificial or staged.  People are choosing to show up at these town halls en masse, and their anger seems genuine to me.  Indeed, in numbers and in motivation, the grassroots energy seems stronger on the right at the present time than it does on the left, regardless of who is organizing these people.

Last week I became aware of an incident that confirmed for me that progressives have a serious problem because of these town hall meetings.  I received an email describing how supporters of health care reform were overwhelmed by loud, jeering opponents at a town hall in Chelmsford, Massachusetts for Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-MA).  The OFA chapter in Massachusetts had tried to send supporters of health care reform to this meeting, but the breakdown of the pro-reform versus anti-reform groups was about 40-60, according to this email.  Apparently, the jeering of the anti-reform group was so loud that the pro-reform group didn’t stand a chance, and wouldn’t have even if the numbers were more even.  The fact that conservatives showed up in greater numbers and were drowning out the voices of OFA’s people in Massachusetts is a disturbing sign.  This piece describing Ben Cardin’s (D-MD) experience in the Democratic stronghold of Maryland is another example of how even in strongly blue states progressives are being outmaneuvered by conservatives at the grassroots level on the health care issue.  (For what it’s worth, I have lived in both Maryland and Massachusetts so I know that there are a lot of Republicans in both states.  My point is simply that in both states Republicans are vastly outnumbered by Democrats who could have shown up in larger numbers than they did.)

Last week, Paul Krugman wrote about the “town hall mob” mentality that has spread around the country.  His argument was that the kind of anger we are seeing against health care reform among some conservatives isn’t just a normal disagreement about policy.  Instead, according to Krugman, there is an element of unease that some people in this country have about a black President, and this unease is showing up in the town halls.  There may be some of this going on, and the whole “birther” movement is a sign that something deeply irrational is spreading among a segment of the Republican base.  However, President Bill Clinton was the victim of very bizarre rumors as well during his administration, and if we are honest, progressives will admit that there were wild conspiracy theories floating among their ranks during the Bush administration.  There was also a lot of hatred and anger.  The cause of the vitriol doesn’t matter so much as the result, it seems to me.  In his piece, Krugman wrote something that I believe is more important and insightful to the current debate about health care:

But right now Mr. Obama’s backers seem to lack all conviction, perhaps because the prosaic reality of his administration isn’t living up to their dreams of transformation. Meanwhile, the angry right is filled with a passionate intensity.

And if Mr. Obama can’t recapture some of the passion of 2008, can’t inspire his supporters to stand up and be heard, health care reform may well fail.

It’s not exactly a surprise that this kind of deflation in intensity among Obama’s supporters would happen.  Many people who volunteered and voted for Barack Obama are disappointed with the details they are hearing about the various health care reform proposals that have been passing through the various committees in Congress.  Some people strongly prefer a single-payer system, and believe that the legislation that Democrats are currently considering amounts to nothing but a half-measure that will not solve our health care problems.  Another group of progressives is more willing to settle for the so-called “public option”, but let’s face it, Krugman is right: there does not appear to be a lot of enthusiasm for this approach among Barack Obama’s base.

So what should progressives who care about the fate of health insurance reform do?  Two things are necessary, I believe.  One lesson learned from this summer is that while door knocking and phone banking may be good field tactics during an election, they are lousy methods for organizing around legislation.  OFA has been recruiting volunteers this summer to call supporters of President Obama in order to encourage them to call or write their representatives or senators and encourage them to support health care reform.  Why is this strategy doomed?  Well, we already know why: while volunteers have been making calls and knocking on doors, conservatives have been reaching a far larger audience through the mass media with their theatrics at town hall meetings.  In other words, the conservative strategy has been much more efficient at getting the anti-reform message out to a mass audience.  The images on CNN showing conservatives screaming at their representatives will create doubt among some independents and encourage other conservatives to take action such as calls to their representatives.  On the other side, the number of phone calls and door knocks that progressives can make is limited to the number of volunteers who show up, and the disparity of intensity means that not enough will show up.  So, the tactics of progressives need to change.  Supporters of health insurance reform need to get more creative in their tactics and aim for mass media exposure.    Perhaps a massive rally, a march, or a national sit-in is needed.  Let’s look back to the methods of the civil rights movement to borrow some of their tactics.  Whatever peacefully gains a national media audience and shows that there are a lot of people in the country who want reform to happen.  Progressives need to also think about distinguishing themselves from conservatives by looking like the rational actors in this debate.  If they can make their case for health care reform calmly and like adults, perhaps that will be an effective way to sway more Americans.

But the second lesson we’ve learned is Krugman’s point about passion.  If progressives do not care as much about passing health care reform as conservatives care about stopping it, then as Krugman says, “health care reform may well fail.”  I don’t know what anyone can do to increase the level of passion and engagement among President Obama’s supporters.  Perhaps Obama could do a better job getting people “fired up,” as we used to say.  But grassroots supporters of President Obama have a responsibility here as well.  If we cannot muster enough support for this bill among other progressives, then we do not deserve to win this fight.  In that case, maybe there isn’t enough support in the nation for health care reform after all.

The advantage that Democrats still have, of course, lies in their superior numbers in Congress compared to the Republicans.  But math isn’t enough.  A little more intensity, wider engagement among Obama’s supporters, and better tactics by those who care strongly about health care reform may be just what is needed.  A lot depends on the White House, OFA, and the grassroots supporters of reform learning the correct lessons from this summer.  I believe that if we do learn the right lessons, then the fall will be the time when we rebound from the setbacks of July and August.

This is the ad that Organizing for America (OFA) has released in the states of “Blue Dog” Democratic senators and moderate Republicans to put pressure on them to support health care reform.  The people in this ad are not actors, but rather citizens who submitted their videos to OFA describing how lack of health insurance has negatively impacted their lives.  This Boston Globe piece provides brief bios of these individuals and their situations regarding health care.

A more significant sign of just how much OFA is engaging in health care reform organizing is their effort to get volunteers to canvass their neighborhoods and make calls to their neighbors.  The first round of weekend canvassing was this past weekend, and OFA plans to continue asking volunters to canvass every weekend throughout the summer.  It’s clear to me that this is the make-or-break moment for OFA to show that they can effectively mobilize Obama’s base.  If they cannot engage Obama’s list of 13 million supporters for one of the most significant domestic policy fights of his presidency, there is little chance that the group will be viable in the future IMHO.

Early signs, however, are promising.  Here in Massachusetts, we still do not have a paid staff person from OFA, and yet the volunteer-led group OFA-MA is organizing a Health Care Reform 101 Forum that will take place this Saturday, July 18 in Boston.  As of today (Wednesday the 15th), 99 people have signed up.

I’m not as frustrated with President Obama’s performance as Bill Maher is in the clip below.  I am in agreement with Joe Klein in this piece that Obama’s first 100 days were probably the most successful first 100 days since FDR.  But in my view, there’s something to Maher’s scathing critique from the left.  For all of Obama’s achievements so far, and there are many solid ones, health care reform and clean energy were two of the top priorities that he campaigned on.  These two issues were major reasons why many people voted for him.  And while I understand that we are currently facing some of the most difficult economic circumstances in decades, Maher is correct when he asks, “Speaking of the Republicans, if you can’t shove some real reform down their throats now, then when?”  The Republicans are almost irrelevant at this stage in terms of their numbers and lack of credibility with the American people.  So why am I reading this report saying that health care reform may be “on the rocks”?  Here is Maher’s commentary on Presidnet Obama’s recent efforts to achieve major legislative victories:

Now, I’m not sure if Maher wants Obama to use all of George W. Bush tactics to achieve victories.  Bush’s dishonesty, cynicism, and scare tactics were a major reason I turned against him in the lead-up to the Iraq war.  I don’t want to see Obama sink to these levels to achieve his goals.  At the same time, something has to give.  I think Maher is correct when he says that Obama needs to worry less about his popularity and more about getting the job done.  The people in the White House seem to believe that as long as Obama’s approval numbers stay high, his personal popularity will translate into support for his agenda.  But I doubt that.  Obama needs to clearly state to the American people what needs to be done.  And the fact is, a real public option that is backed by the government and that will have the weight to offer real competition to the insurance industry is what needs to be done.  Robert Reich got it exactly right in this piece.  Maybe it’s not what we want to hear.  But as Obama said on the campaign trail in the primaries, as President he was going to tell us not just what we wanted to hear, but what we needed to hear.

It was unacceptable for the President to give just one major speech on health care last week as the health care bill began to stall in the Senate.  And who noticed that speech in Green Bay besides Wisconsinites?  He needs to be out there more.  He needs to be educating the American people about why we must have health care reform NOW.  He needs to explain to the American people exactly how his plan will control health care costs and how it is a bigger financial risk to make incremental changes than to act boldly.  And finally, he needs to tell some uncomfortable truths, and clearly lay out how he will control entitlement spending in order to cut the deficit.  In the past, Obama has risen to the challenge at just the right time and used his communication skills to persuade enough people to come to his side in order to win battles.  Now he needs to do that, and he needs to show more vigor than he has been showing lately.

He didn’t have to be here.  Many people, including me, worried that he may have been taking on too much this year in his agenda.  But now that he has chosen to tackle health care reform by the end of the year, he needs to go out and get it done.  As citizens and supporters of health care reform, we need to do our part as well.  Otherwise, we will not see the real change that was promised during the campaign.  And if not, then what did we work so hard for during the campaign?

UPDATE: I corrected the horrible grammatical errors that I missed when I first posted this.  Please excuse that lapse.

It’s on.  Today marked the beginning of what promises to be an historic push for universal health care in the United States.  President Obama delivered his Saturday address today from France as citizens across America organized Health Care Organizing Kickoff events.  I attended and helped coordinate a very successful kickoff event at Quincy Market in downtown Boston.  34 people came out on a beautiful Saturday to talk about how they could start building support in their communities to help pass health care reform.  ABC’s World News tonight was there, and they plan to show some footage from our event Sunday evening at 6:30pm ET.  You may see me if you tune in.

The New York Times reports that President Obama plans to start the heavy lifting on health care over the next few weeks, and he is eager to make sure that his priorities are not lost in the negotiations over the details of the plan.  But Robert Reich reports at his blog that Big Pharma and the insurance industry is already balking at the so-called “public option” and is working behind the scenes to kill it.  Clearly, this is going to be a major battle.  Besides getting the economy out of the current recession, health care reform is probably going to be the most significant domestic policy challenge that President Obama will face during his first term.

I am optimistic that on the issue of health care, the grassroots army that Obama built during the campaign is going to become activated and intensely involved.  The turnout today at our event and the intensity of the participants leads me to believe that this is the time where Organizing for America has a real shot at making a difference.   It’s going to be an exciting time for organizers and those who want to see health care reform happen.  This isn’t going to happen without significant grassroots mobilization, so I hope readers of this blog will get involved.  Health care reform promises to be as significant a change to the way our country treats its citizens as social security was when it was passed, so we all have a chance to be a part of an historic legislative achievement.

I respect Paul Krugman’s work, and I’m currently reading his very interesting book The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008.  But the fact is that for almost two years now, Krugman has been one of the leading progressive voices to complain at every opportunity that Obama wasn’t pure enough.  Don’t get me wrong: criticizing Obama from the left is fine and there’s a point to trying to make Obama deliver on a strong progressive agenda considering the mandate that he has.  But there has frequently been a nasty edge to Krugman’s commentary on Obama the candidate and the Obama administration.

Nonetheless, we occasionally get a grudging admission that Obama may just succeed as a progressive.  Here is Krugman in today’s New York Times commenting on the health care meeting yesterday at the White House:

But let me not be too negative. The fact that the medical-industrial complex is trying to shape health care reform rather than block it is a tremendously good omen. It looks as if America may finally get what every other advanced country already has: a system that guarantees essential health care to all its citizens.

And serious cost control would change everything, not just for health care, but for America’s fiscal future. As Mr. Orszag has emphasized, rising health care costs are the main reason long-run budget projections look so grim. Slow the rate at which those costs rise, and the future will look far brighter.

I still won’t count my health care chickens until they’re hatched. But this is some of the best policy news I’ve heard in a long time.

This is improvement–whether for Krugman or for Obama depends on your perspective, I guess.