Now I waited with baited breathe for the 16 months we are out of Iraq not to mention deeper in the mud in Afghanistan promise to fail.

-- xeroid47

Considering Obama has not been in office for only 7 months how you can still wait with baited breath, as the pull out in Iraq is the on schedule he promised. Obama never promised a pull out in Afghanistan. In fact he promised to up the fight there. Some of you live your own delussonals instead of what Obaa really promised.

Have you all kept all your promises,or did something cause your plans to be altered?

Obama is a tool, plain and simple. If his presidency is a failure because progressives in the House don't support his idea of health insurance reform, so be it. To me (and I think many progressives) he has already failed in all of the ways that Glenn mentioned.

-- Chris_K

This is a classic example of why the Democrats don't win in the long term. You expect too much too soon. Progressive lose because they are not wiling to work for long term solutions.

You should run for office."

Many people have told me this. Frankly none of you have any political sense at all.

I have worked on progressive political issues. If you want to have a large lobbing impact on the health care issue you need the power of coalitions. The down side to participating in a coalitions you must decide what is your bottom line compromise, and you have to keep the coalition members focused on the common issue and not let it turn the effort into a lobby or protest for their own issues.

You better get organizing now. You have to get permits, etc.. and getting people out. This kind of march takes 6 months a least to organize, but maybe you can. Start with oprgressive organizations supporting a pubic option which already have memberships.

Also a what kind of public option. We need to lobby for a specific pubic option. What is everyone's ideas on this. The congress and Obama have NEVER defied the illusive public option.

"And yet, there she is, saying, "under no certain circumstances will I give the government control over my body and my health care decisions" -- exactly what reproductive rights activists have been saying forever."

What else is new. Hypocracy is the motto of wing nuts like Bachmann. It'd based on their ignorance.

I want health care reform with a public option,but I don't want it rushed so it ends up being a mess. I thought health care reform when discussed in the campaign was going to have a short term and long term goal. Is 7 moths enough time for all the lefty's miracle agenda? True Progressive take their time and reach for the long term. Lefties want action overnight.

I've seen it over and over again, with Democrats on the left who are impatient for change. When the next election comes around they run to the pie-in-the-sky-ideas of some crazy independent, and Democrats lose in the long run.

There has been lots of speculation in the press and on blogs, and hysteria about Obama backing off the pubic option. Obama has NEVER said he was backing off. In fact he has continued to say that the public Option is an essential element of health care reform.

Where have the progressives been except talking to each other on blogs. Have you written, called or emailed your House or Senate rep. to lobby for a public option.

Nancy Pelosi says the House version will include a pubic option. She seems to be able to corral the House members. It's the Senate, led by the weak Harry Reid, we need to worry about.

The power to pass Health Care legislation lies with Congress, but Obama and Congress all need to tell us... What is this mythical public option. Does anyone know what the public option looks like. That is the biggest problem. The pubic option has not been defined. How can we lobby for a public option when we don't know what it looks like. I want a public option, but not messy co-op.

I think Harry Reid is the problem too. I'm still trying to figure out how he got the leadership of the Senate.

The Senate is where the problem lies. Nancey Pelosi says he House will pass their bill with a public option, but what is the Senate going to do? Call or e-mail your Senators.

I like Howard Dean's position on health care, and I'm glad he is speaking up, but I think he is too unstable to be president.

and barely won at that (thanks to an "economic crisis" a few weeks before the election)....

-- sonofloud

Obama did not barely win. He won the general election by a bigger margin than any Democrat. He won in so-called RED states.

Anyone who thinks Hillary could have done a better job on health care does not remember the early 90s healht care debacle.

The problem is there is no big show by progressives and those who want a pubic option. Talking to each other on this blog will not get your public option. You must write, call your representatives or get out on the streets and protest. Many seniors already have a public option and they are worried health care reform is going to happen on their backs. Many young people who work for corporations don't care. Republicans just want to defeat Obama on anything, they don't care.