Dan Besse's blog

Yesterday's meeting of the N.C. Democratic Party State Executive Committee was an encouraging event for several reasons.

The new state legislative Republican majority is already moving on its effort to undermine health care reform. HB 2, their first bagful of sand in the gears of health care, is laughingly mis-named the “Protect Health Care Freedom” bill.

Protect health care freedom? HB 2 would be more accurately known as the “Protect Freedom from Affordable Health Care” or perhaps “Protect Freedom to Suffer from Lack of Health Care” bill.

Please join me in telling your legislative representatives, and the media, that this is unacceptable—and why. I’ve copied my message to my own legislators below. Please write your own. We cannot stay silent.

"My mind is made up. Don't confuse me with the facts."

That seems to be the attitude of far too many of our progressive friends as well as our right-wing adversaries, when it comes to debating politics and public policy alternatives.

A friend of mine persistently voices the same empty platitudes about business, budgets, and efficiency, any time I mention certain topics on a Facebook post. Generally, what gets his knees jerking involves health care, education, or budget cuts. He operates a successful small business, and apparently within his personal experience all problems can be solved by healthy eating, exercise, and frugality.

From everything I can pick up, the question of who will lead the N.C. Democratic Party next year is wide open.

I personally believe it's important that the new chair be prepared to take an aggressive role as Democratic spokesperson in calling out the new Republican legislative majorities on their extreme policy positions. This needs to start immediately, before the incoming GOP regime has an opportunity to define itself under the false mantle of fiscal responsibility.

Civility is more than etiquette. Etiquette is just maintaining social conventions as required by tradition or authority.

Civility in the political context is the acknowledgment that our opponents may have a valid contribution or point to make. It's the reflection of an agreement that campaigns are not purely cut-throat competitions to be won by any means available. It's the commitment to the inherent value of the democratic process and the rule of law. It's a statement that what matters in campaigns includes what their results permit us to do through government afterward.

In the face of a major home-grown disappointment on health care reform, where can North Carolina Democrats look for inspiration - for confirmation that who we elect to Congress can make a difference? How about right across the state line in Virginia's 5th Congressional District?

I've grown increasingly baffled over recent weeks by Larry Kissell's mysterious behavior on the health care reform bill.

His stubborn opposition to the pending legislation makes no policy sense, and it makes no political sense. His reported failure to even return calls of active volunteers and fundraising supporters from 2008 (both in and out of his district) who are now distressed by his intransigent opposition to reform is...politically foolish, let us say. Even if you have a well-reasoned position which you do not intend to change, you do not simply ignore your supporters. You call, you explain, you limit the political damage and try to retain their support for other issues and other days.

Health care reform is in the home stretch, but the fools running the Republican Party and their corporate sponsors are throwing every desperate trick in the book (and some that aren't in the book yet) to try to hold it off.

Once the House acts--which could come as early as next week--it's "game over" for the opposition. The basic reform structure will be through both chambers of Congress, and the "reconciliation" package of improvements will be strucurally and politically unblockable in the formal Senate reconcilation vote. The GOP will be down to hours of obstruction time left--not years.

I'll be looking for Larry at the N.C. Democratic Party State Executive Committee meeting in Durham tomorrow.

Larry? Larry Kissell. Representative Larry Kissell (D-NC's 8th District). I'll be looking to catch you and make this plea in person -- but in case you're not there, or I can't reach you through the crowds, I'm posting it online tonight. Perhaps if I miss you, others will take it up and deliver the same message. In fact, I expect that they will.

Data! Fresh data!

I saw a subtly hilarious cartoon with that message posted on the door of a sociology prof once, and it still comes to mind whenever I find fresh new study info relevant to a topic of major current interest.

Speaking of which: A newly released study of key Democratic electoral groups shows that THE single most effective message for increasing their voting turnout this fall will be passage of health care reform. See the following, especially the chart on p. 12.

I encourage you to take a look. And please pass this information on to your Democratic representatives in Congress.