Here in Nebraska we have three Congressmen and two Senators, only one of which is a Democrat, Senator Ben Nelson. While everyone pretty much knows here that the four Republicans will fall in with the party political line and vote against ANY type of reform.
But Ben Nelson is reachable and believe me we are reaching out to him. And we hope he gets it...
Yesterday afternoon on the west steps of the State Capital building almost a THOUSAND people from all walks of life and all political leanings gathered together to hear speakers talk about the state of health care as it is right now here in Nebraska. The same stories everyone has heard or lived everywhere else in America, are heard and happen here also. From the small business owner that can no longer afford coverage, to the Veterans in small towns in western Nebraska that cannot get adequate care for their injuries and illnesses.
One thousand people from unions, and churches and the AARP, local teachers and fire fighters and mothers that stay at home, and others that work 2 jobs to make ends meet, students that worry about getting a job to cover their health care after college, and veterans worried aobut their
brother and sisters in arms that seem to be falling thru the cracks. They all showed up, and they all deeply care about this issue.
Twice here in Lincoln we held rally's for Barrack Obama during the 2008 election, at our biggest rally we had perhaps 600 people out holding signs and chanting "Yes we can"!!
This time we had almost 1000, and we chanted "Vote YES"! Over and over..
There IS very significant support for a public option here among most Democrats, and a signifant number of GOP and Independent voters as well.
From Omaha, Lincoln, Wahoo, Valentine, Sydney, Hastings, Ashland and two dozen other wonderful places.
KOS himself did a diary on it today -
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Yes is it an uphill battle getting reality back into the conversation after so many lies and fear driven hoopla, but slowly even here in
Nebraska it is working and more people are talking about it and starting to support serious reform.
According to KOS, Ben Nelson could suffer a loss of support of about 17 percent of his faithful base should he vote against health care reform.
Personally from my own observations and conversations I have had with numerous other voters, I think Ben would likely lose closer to 20 percent.
One comment that has been repeated many times ' " If Ben screws us on health care, I am done with him".
In 2012 the GOP is going to run HARD against him, conventional wisdom says they will probably pick our current Governor Dave Heineman to do so.
In this red state having 20 percent of your Democratic base sitting out of an election is the kiss of death. Having Ben just symbolically vote no in a meaningless vote against reform when the measure will likely pass anyway is sure to antagonize not only many Democrat's but also some Republicans adding more problems for Ben's re-election run.
Or I guess Ben could simply retire from the Senate in 2012 and leave it up to a new Democrat to pick up where he left things.
Two things are the leading cause of epic fail when it comes to getting elected, or re-elected.
- Alienating your faithful base...
- Not leading the way for better conditions when the American people are asking for it, and desperately need it.
Right now, Ben is doubling down on both of those...
Will he hurt health care reform?
Probably not.
Will he be dumped by many previously committed voters anyway?
Very likely.
This is likely one of the most important pieces of legislation Ben Nelson will ever get the chance to vote on, while it affects everyone in some way, many of the people that desperately need it the most, are traditionally Democratic Voters, and are Ben's base of support.
I suppose Ben could always switch parties, but if he votes against reform he can kiss being re-elected as a Democratic Senator goodbye.