Dem. Senators are cranky because they're being called out for screwing up health care reform

The gist of this Washington Post article is that it's bad, very bad, for Democratic activists to fulfill Democratic promises on health care reform. Democratic Senators don't like being asked to keep promises:

"We are getting to the point if people aren't going to respond to the patience and openness of Senator Baucus, we should begin to make a different plan," said Andrew Stern, president of the 2 million-member SEIU.

Stern said his organization issued a release chastising Feinstein last week, because she should "put her foot on the gas, not the brake" on health reform.

"The gas pedal to go where?" Feinstein replied, explaining she has questions about how a broad expansion of health coverage will be paid for.

"I do not think this is helpful. It doesn't move me one whit," she said. "They are spending a lot of money on something that is not productive."

How dare any Democrat expect to influence Dianne Feinstein. She is a United States Senator, after all. I swear, so many of those Senators think they're in the House of Lords, forgetting they've actually been elected to solve problems. But, they're annoyed that people expect them to solve the problems upon which they and their colleagues (and their president) campaigned. It's lunacy.

Many Senators really do believe they're immune to public pressure. They'll listen to lobbyists, that's for sure. And, they fall for the allure of bipartisanship. Democratic Senators have a huge majority because the Republicans were total failures at solving the nation's problems. In 2006, there were 55 Republicans Senators. Today, there are 40. The political pendulum swang very quickly. Now, Democrats need to deliver.

And, I love this excerpt:

One Democratic strategist who is working full-time on health reform was apoplectic over what he called wasted time, energy and resources by the organizations.

The strategist, who asked for anonymity because he was criticizing colleagues, said: "These are friends of ours. I would much rather see a quiet call placed by [Obama chief of staff] Rahm Emanuel saying this isn't helpful. Instead, we try to decimate them?"

If they are siding with the insurance lobby, they're not our friends. And, why hasn't Rahm already placed "the quiet call"? If all it takes is a call from Rahm, then why do we need the Organizing for America health care campaign?

People in DC only want to play the inside game. But, in the Senate, it really feels like the inside game is controlled by the insurance industry. The city is a tangled web of competing and conflicting interests. It's all a game for the insiders. They really have no idea how what they're doing -- or not doing -- impacts the real world. That's why the "outside" game is so important. That's why the t.v. ads matter. That's why the health care rally on Thursday was so important. That's why the DNC is organizing a health care reform campaign. This can't be left to the insiders. They'll screw it up for sure.