A Clear Strategy

UC Berkeley Emeritus Professor Hal Wilensky sends us this sneak peek at the Washington Post's Sunday Opinion piece by Peter Dreier and Marshall Ganz, who outline a three-point strategy for winning health care reform:

1) Rally support FOR a specific bill that contains Obama's principles, including "the public option and controls on exorbitant drug and insurance industry costs. The Limbaugh lunatics know what they are against. But Obama and his allies have to be clear about what they are for."

2) "Focus attention on the insurance companies.... This requires "movement" tactics, from leaflets, picketing, vigils and newspaper ads to nonviolent civil disobedience - such as occupying insurance company offices and picketing the homes of executives... As long as the real source of the problem remains faceless (or can hide behind seven conservative Democratic senators), the right remains free to demonize "big government" rather than greedy corporations."

3) "Third, the campaign must educate constituents of the Baucus caucus about their senators' political and financial dependence on the insurance industry and other opponents of reform. They need to ask these conservative Democrats: Which side are you on? If they won't support real reform, they should know that a primary challenge is likely."

It's one of the more convincing strategies I've read. I recommend reading the entire article.