You have to respect Harry Reid’s determination. Despite flagging support from his constituent state, the Senate majority leader from Nevada is not giving up his ambitious agenda. He has taken the reins of a healthcare debate that was swerving and dipping under Pelosi’s leadership. Now, with a palpable sniff of victory in front of him, Reid is going in for the kill.
He is expected to unveil the newest, shiniest version of the healthcare reform bill yet. This time, he is mostly trying to garner enough support to push it through in decisive fashion. His silver bullet: an opt-out option that allows states to remove the public option from their constituents’ list of healthcare choices.
This is genius. It’ nearly bulletproof. The shrewd Harry knows doing this allows him to calm the public option doubters, while simultaneously making sure the public option stays embedded in American healthcare for generations.
It comes down to politics. The opt-out option would allow a state to pass a law, which both the legislature and the governor of that state must approve, that bans the public option. What this does is bind the governor and any state legislator that voted for the “No Public Option” law to it, thereby tying them to the popularity, or lack thereof, of that decision.
According to recent polls, support for the public option is anywhere between the high 50’s and mid 60’s percentage points. It is safe to assume that this will stay the same once the bill is approved and it becomes law.
It’s easy for a Senator from Alabama, or a governor from Texas to skewer the idea of a public option from an ideological/illogical standpoint, knowing that he is one of many against it. But when it’s easy to single out those in favor and those against it, and when people in Texas see that people in California are saving so much more money because they have a public option in place that puts pressure on insurance companies to stay competitive, it won’t be so safe to do such grandstanding.
Let’s say a brave governor decides to declare his state “Public Option Free,” what could happen then? It will become a campaign issue. It might be powerful enough to kill that governor’s, or even worse, that governor party’s chances at re-election. Same goes for legislators. A vote against the public option could prove to be a vote they will have to explain ten times over when seeking to keep their seat.
If the public option proves to be the money saver many, including the Congressional Budget Office, says it will be, that is strong enough argument to persuade the nay-sayers that they are on the wrong end of the debate. Good job, Harry. Keep that gutsy cleverness coming–and keep away from Pelosi, she is a photo-op killer.
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