Obama Pressures House Democrats To Vote "Yes"

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House Dems Under Pressure To Deliver On Health Care


As health care lobbying heats up, some members are getting calls from President Barack Obama, like the three Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) got in the past two weeks.

“He believes that the economy will turn around, that people will be in a better position to judge the effects of this bill later on, that while it may not be a politically popular vote today, a year or two or three from now, it will be viewed as something the American people want,” said Altmire, who voted no last time on health reform but is undecided now.

Others in the House said the lobbying can be much less friendly. Aides to conservative Democratic lawmakers describe intense pressure tactics, including one who said his office has received calls from donors. Those calls are taken as a thinly veiled threat to withhold future financial support if the member doesn’t vote as the donor wishes.

“We’re having donors, even donors outside of our district, that are being called and asked to urge support” for the bill, said a senior aide to one conservative Democrat, who indicated the tactics could backfire on the health care bill. “If you want to play Chicago-style politics, and that’s what this is, then we will come out firmly against it.”

The aide also targeted the Democratic National Committee, where Vice Chairwoman Donna Brazile used her Twitter account to encourage primary challenges to Democrats who vote against the bill.

“If a handful of Democrats decide to defeat this bill, they deserve to get a primary challenge to defend the status quo and insurance industry,” Brazile tweeted.

The White House said no one there is telling donors to call members, and Brazile later clarified that she wasn’t speaking for the DNC.

Nonetheless, the comments fueled frustration among moderate Democrats who believe their party is working against them.

Rep. Chet Edwards, a Texas Democrat who remains a firm “no,” said he’s getting calls spurred by Organizing for America, the president’s unofficial outreach arm. He said he’s fine with constituents expressing their opinions — and even with the right of OFA to engage — but noted of the Obama organization, “It’s clear to me they could care less about my political future.”

With the fate of Obama’s top legislative goal in the balance, the president and his Cabinet are doing everything in their power to help Speaker Nancy Pelosi lock down the 216 votes she needs to get health care out of the House — and very likely onto his desk. But it will take plenty of work by both to get there.

“When people come up to me, there is a decided anti-health-reform view,” Altmire said, referring to the conversations he has with people at fairs, restaurants and church festivals in his Pittsburgh-area district. “The calls to my office have been pretty negative, and it’s gaining momentum every day. I’m giving everybody a chance to be heard, but if my district’s not on board with this, I’m not going to be able to vote for this.”

That doesn’t bode well for a White House — and speaker — in desperate search of votes to do something no other president has: provide health care coverage to nearly every American.

From conference calls to member meetings, the White House has mobilized every resource at its command. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis held a call Tuesday afternoon to highlight the legislation’s benefits in the Latino community.

And several House members interviewed by POLITICO said Obama should once again postpone the departure for his looming trip to Australia, Indonesia and Guam, already moved from Friday to Sunday. While creating a natural deadline for eleventh-hour health care talks, that’s once again becoming a problem as Obama tries to sell reluctant members of his party on the reform legislation.

“For the first time in eight months, the president is finally getting his hands dirty, and now he’s going to hop on the plane? Please,” said a Democratic congressman, requesting anonymity.

Whether or not Obama sticks around, Pelosi is clearly relishing her role as the Democrats’ top vote counter — even though she relinquished the official title back in 2003.

“I never stop whipping,” a beaming Pelosi told reporters Tuesday. “There’s no beginning, there’s no middle, and there’s no end. ... We have a massive whip operation, and we’ll be ready.”

She later added, “I think we’ll be in pretty good shape.”

But her No. 2, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, said Democrats were still shy of getting the votes needed to pass reform. And another day passed without a Congressional Budget Office score or language on a reconciliation bill — raising the prospect that the vote might slip past the weekend and into next week.

That means folks like Altmire can expect to hear plenty from the speaker, the president and outside groups in the coming days. And for every person prodding lawmakers to vote yes, it’s easy to find someone else asking them to vote no.

Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who backed Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak’s abortion restrictions, said she is still undecided but that the abortion language in the Senate bill is unacceptable.

She has not talked with the president but did receive calls from “several” Cabinet members. “They have the Cabinet secretaries very busy. I think different interest groups on the outside have been very, very busy,” she said. “They shouldn’t waste their time on burdening members’ offices with a crescendo of phone calls because what we need is work on the language.”

Rep. Mike McMahon, a first-term New York Democrat who voted against the House bill, played coy when asked whether he’d heard from Obama, saying, “He has a very able staff, and they are making sure their side is well-explained.”

Altmire has become the quintessential swing vote and seems to be on Obama’s speed dial. Obama tried to reach him Monday on a flight back from Ohio. Altmire was in the car, driving back to Washington for another week of votes, and the two didn’t connect.

When Obama finally tracked him down, after both had returned to their respective offices, the two spoke for about 10 minutes. The conversation focused on Altmire’s reservations about the House bill and what party leaders have done to change it.

Altmire said he’s keeping an open mind, but his distaste for the process is obvious, particularly the prospect that House members may not even vote on the Senate’s bill.

“I’m against that, and I think that’s really hurting the argument for health care reform when you give the public the appearance that you’re not even willing to go on record supporting it,” Altmire said. “I’m trying to be open, but I will be honest that, as this process continues, there is a greater level of unease every passing day, and the process is a part of that.”

Altmire said his conversations with Obama revolved almost entirely around policy, not politics, but that the president did address his constituents’ concerns, urging him to take a long-term view. Does that logic make sense to the congressman?

“I’m listening to my constituents,” he said. “I think I’d be doing a disservice to my constituents, with all of them coming down here making special trips, for me to say, ‘You know what, I appreciate you coming, but I’ve already made up my mind.’ I’m not, I don’t think, going to make a definitive statement until the vote because I want to give them an opportunity to weigh in.”


Sources: Politico, MSNBC