Group Aims at 8 Senators for ‘Public Option’

[ProSense]

Group Aims at 8 Senators for ‘Public Option’

By Katharine Q. Seelye

An alliance of liberal advocacy groups is stepping up pressure on Democratic senators to declare their support for a government-backed health insurance plan, the so-called public option.

The alliance — OpenLeft.com, Democracy in Action and Health Care for America Now — hopes that by getting at least 50 senators on the record as supporting a public option, they can persuade other fence-sitters to jump to their side and push through a bill with a public option, even if only with Democratic support.

So far, they say, 45 senators, all Democrats, have said “yes.”

A Web site inspired by Howard Dean, the former Democratic national chairman and a fervent backer of a public option, is keeping a running tally of where the senators stand.

Fifteen others have said “maybe,” and the alliance is raising money to aim at eight of them as the ones most open to converting to “yes” if they are pressured to do so: Max Baucus of Montana; Kent Conrad of North Dakota; Ron Wyden of Oregon; Thomas Carper of Delaware; Jon Tester of Montana; Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas; Bill Nelson of Florida; and Mark Warner of Virginia.

The coalition, which had raised $331,000 by Monday evening, is aiming for $350,000 to start canvassing, running phone banks and probably advertising on television in most of those eight states in September.

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[ProSense]

1. No comment? n/t

[jenmito]

2. Good! "Funny" how all those who say "maybe" dodge when asked for responses.

I hope this works! :hi: