Thursday, July 2, 2009

Senator Kay Hagan on board for the public option

The pressure was put on her and when she went home, well, she was initially cheered at the opening, but by the closing her constituents were telling her to, "Do the right thing."

She is not the only one, here. Many of these weak knee senators who are going home are going to get an EARFUL from their constituents. People are tired and voted for change. If we wanted what we had, I would be typing President John McCain, OK?

One of the real camels to break Hagan's back was the ad planned by moveon.org to target her resistance to the public option. In the end, she got the message.

For days, even weeks, the North Carolina Democrat had been pinpointed as a possible roadblock towards getting a strong public option out of the HELP committee. Progressive groups were running advertisements in her state to compel her to support the provision. Local pressure on the Senator was intense as well as it was widely believed that she was trying to water down the public option during the committee's drafting process.

In the end, Democrats say, Hagan was much more solid on the idea than media reports were letting on.

"The Left is wrong about Sen. Hagan on this," said a Senior Democratic staffer. "For others to attack her as standing in the way of progress on public choice just isn't right. She worked right up to the wire with other Democrats on the Committee. In the end, it will be plan they created together that will pass the Senate, guarantee access to affordable coverage for those who don't have it and preserve the options of those who do." read it all here...

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