Go Ahead, Make Me

On the heels of my rant yesterday, we have this missive from the White House:

Gibbs: We Didn't Include The Public Option Because It Doesn't Have The Votes

And it brings to mind this old one-liner from then-newly elected Franklin Roosevelt to leaders of the progressive movement:

"I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it."

Adam Green, of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, has taken that ethos to heart:

"The White House obviously has a loser mentality -- but America rallies around winners," Green said. "Polls show that in state after state, voters hate the Senate bill and overwhelmingly want a public option, even if passed with zero Republican votes. ... That's why Democrats in Congress should ignore the White House and follow those like Chuck Schumer and Robert Menendez who know that the public option is a political and policy winner."

So basically, this is just a reminder. A reminder that Obama, like Roosevelt before him, like your local congressperson regardless of party, or your local school board member, is focused primarily on one plank in his platform: Re-election.

Change doesn't happen from the top-down. It happens from the ground up. Make Obama's re-election incumbent upon his delivering a public option, and then we'll start seeing change we can believe in. Until then, he's just another politician.