[visiting my congressman]

This morning I went to Representative Michael McMahon's Brooklyn office to present my support for health care reform in person. I met a young, friendly staffer who's on the same side as me, but made it clear to me that McMahon sees himself in a tough spot on this issue.

McMahon is the Representative for NY-13, a district that until the last election was held by Republican Vito Fossella. Fossella was caught in a scandal and declined to run for reelection. Then the favored Republican candidate, Francis Powers, died of a heart attack. In the end, McMahon took 61 percent of the vote in a district Obama lost.

According to the staffer I met, the people coming to McMahon's office to talk to him on health care have been about 80 percent against, and this has got McMahon worried. He also said that they'd decided not to hold any town halls because of concerns that they would be unproductive shouting matches. I reminded the staffer that shouters are not the same thing as polls or surveys, and that the last time we had a major poll, back in November, we elected McMahon on a Democratic platform that included health care reform.

But I think there are two important points here. The first is that a Democratic Congressional Representative is saying that his position on health care is being swayed by the overwhelming number of people coming into his office to speak against health care reform. We need to get out there and talk to our Reps to make sure they do the right thing!

The second point, which I hope our Representatives will grasp, is that the shouters and doubters on health care were never going to vote for them in the first place. Does McMahon truly believe that if he caves on health care, these nuts will come around to the Democratic side in 2010?

If health care reform passes, the Democrats will look strong. They'll have a record of achievement. And they'll get shouted at by loonies during the next election cycle. If health care reform doesn't pass, the Democrats will look weak. They'll come into the next election cycle facing accusations of incompetence. And they'll still get shouted at by loonies.

I hope the Democrats in Congress realize that voting down health care reform is not a winning proposition.