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OpenLeft reports that North Carolina’s Larry Kissell, who raised $485,795 on ActBlue in his two campaigns for Congress (some of it through FDL’s Blue America page) is now a NO vote in the whip count for this Saturday’s House vote on health care reform.
I was a very early supporter of Larry Kissell’s, with hard-earned money although not wheelbarrows of it. I let him know what I thought about his decision not to support health care reform today.
If you supported Larry Kissell for Congress, please join me in letting him know what you think about his decision not to support health care reform.
Write Congressman Kissell’s campaign here: info@larrykissell.com
Call Congressman Kissell’s campaign office here: 1-877-428-4048
Here’s my email, which you are welcome to crib from if you find any part of it useful in composing your own.
Dear Congressman Kissell:
I am a long-standing financial supporter of yours through Blue America at FireDogLake. I supported your first campaign and your winning one as well. I expected you to support health care reform without much of a fight. It seemed to me to be a natural fit for the populist campaign you ran. I was very disappointed to read at OpenLeft today that yours is a vote AGAINST the bill.
I lived in North Carolina in the 1970s and 1980s. I know how families struggled — even then! — to afford basic health care. I did. I can’t imagine it’s gotten any better for the working poor of your district in the time you’ve served in Congress.
I hope this report of your NO vote is a mistake and that North Carolina families, and your longtime supporters from all across the country, can in fact count on your support for the health care reform bill. Anything else would be a betrayal of the principles that made me support you, and a grave disappointment to me.
Thank you for reading this email and thank you for your service to the people of North Carolina and the United States of America.
Sincerely,
10 Comments
This is infuriating. This guy ran a street-level populist campaign, pumping gas in his 2006 race for the price it was when Bush took office in 2001, and making up the difference. He won tremendous earned media and seemed pretty savvy for a first-time candidate. But I’m really surprised to see him stray from his populist roots: he ran against a mill-owner family scion as a laid-off employee of the mill, for pete’s sake.
Let’s remind Larry Kissell where his money came from: Democrats everywhere who want to see health care reform succeed.
Sorry Teddy… this guy gets a big thumbs up from me. No progressive, BA candidate or other mammalian will ever get a dime from me if they vote for this sham.
I don’t even care why they vote no anymore… as long as they kill it.
This health care round needs to die a certain death.
Well, you a certainly welcome to use the contact information I provided!
I was pretty sure there would be folks who came down on both sides of this.
What about all the progressives we raised money specifically for robust PO or no? Don’t you agree that threshold is nowhere near the versions as they are now… and shouldn’t they vote no.. or at least return our money?
57 members of the cpc signed a letter (july 30) saying they would vote against a bill that did not meet their po criteria. the current house bill does not. jane raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of them (and 3 more who signed a later letter and those who took the fdl pledge). imo, where ever we come done on the current bill, we have to have the backs of the cpc members who stand by their pledge and hold accountable those who do not. i personally don’t think the current bill even meets the fdl pledge — but there are differences of opinion on that (ralphbon thinks it does). so, i’m only referring to the 57 for whom it is without question.
I would love to read ralphbons argument suggesting it does meet the criteria. If you have a link, please share it.
ok. was going to get links re the 57 anyway… will look now….
Eureka Springs, here is the start of the thread with my conversation with ralphbon (for his take and a bit of mine and some links, although not comprehensive)
the actblue page
come of the fund raising background
my argument re the fdl pledge
…..
hope that’s what you were looking for (it’s only a few of the links), if not give me a yell. for more from ralphbon, i think you will have to ask him. i didn’t press it since there were the 57 anyway.
Thank you very much.
no problem happy to do it, especially for you ES.
one more, you might have already seen was when i mentioned it in darcy burner’s thread at OL. i just checked and she did not reply:
http://www.openleft.com/diary/15796/gravitational-slingshots-healthcare-reform-and-building-progressive-power