Keeping the Faith Deep in the Heart of Coal Country
The press reported today that the Senate killed the public option. They traded it in for a nonprofit co op and the expansion of Medicare to 55. During my first few months on this campaign the headlines in the press read “The Public Option is Dead.” Senator Specter had also gone on national TV and vowed to defeat it. As I got nervous, Antoinette reminded me “that we are in a campaign and there are going to be good days and there are going to be bad days.We can overcome any bad day by staying on message and continuing the fight.” And she is right. Our job is to keep fighting and at the end to have made history.
Today we did our best to carry that message deep into the heart of coal country. We met people who were steaming mad perhaps more than the town of Centralia (and yes we made it there for a visit). We reminded them that this is not the end of the process and that the fight is far from over. We are continuing to hear that the Senate will vote for cloture around December 18th. We made history in the House and the time to do it again is nearing.
Today I met a woman who survived a brain tumor. At midnight tonight she will officially be laid off from her job and will lose her health coverage. She is lucky to be married to a union member who has coverage. Until this legislation is passed she on her own is stamped as uninsurable.
-Athena