Public option: Is Pelosi listening?

Pub date December 14, 2009
WriterTim Redmond
SectionPolitics Blog

By Tim Redmond

Nancy Pelosi lives, breathes, eats and sleeps to elect more Democrats to the House. That’s why she’s so wimpy on tough issues, why she won’t (so far) oppose the troop surge in Afghanistan and why she sometimes infuriates the progressive voters in her home town.

She long ago stopped representing San Francisco; her constituency is the Democratic Caucus — and the consultants who are running campaigns for Democrats in swing districts.

So I hope she’s seen this poll. It shows that the public option is not just good policy — it’s what Democratic voters demand. It’s what could make the difference between a weak effort in the mid-term elections and another strong year for Pelosi’s party and her speakership.