Okay, so let me get this straight:  A bill that has the public option only has a solid 41 votes in Senate.  But if they try to go with a bill that has no public option anywhere from 57 to 100 Dems in the House will vote against it.  And through all of this the Republicans refuse to play ball in any way, shape or form.

Why does this all sound so familiar?

I personally think the Administration should just say "screw it" and run with a single-payer option the way they wanted to in the first place.  But I know that's not how things work, much as I wish it could.

The real question here isn't "Why do the Democrats seem to be ready to drop the Public Option?" The question should be "Why did the same grass roots groups that got Obama elected allow the Republicans to win the message war?" Why didn't the same people who were out there campaigning and speaking up for Obama, campaign and speak out for health care? Why didn't the shouters get quieted by people, the majority of whom want the public option?

I know, we saw the failure of SEIU members to quell the shouters at the Town Hall in Tampa.  And at several other Town Halls when people did get arrested it was often the Union representatives.  This discouraging fact might have kept people who otherwise would have liked to have stood up for the health care bill away from their local Town Halls.

Whatever the case may be, Republicans won the message war on this one.  Once again, they scared the people - and not even a majority of the people, but enough to disrupt civil discourse on the matter - into working against their own interests.

But the White House is hardly to blame here.  They tried desperately to stop the hemorrhaging and get the positive points of the message out, but the people who would believe such lies as the "death panel" scare were too easy to fool.

But what about the rest of us?  I know I tried.  I got out to the Town Hall by me, and even though the majority of folks there were reciting the Republican talking points, and I was up against Rep. Tim Johnson (R - IL), I still tried.  I tried to educate the uneducated, tried to beat the lies.

About a month ago I had a back-and-forth with a fellow poster who claimed that they campaigned for Obama with health care reform at forefront of mind. They said they would not vote to re-elect Obama if he couldn't get the Dems together on UHC. I challenged him to go out and get together the same campaign team to get the word out on health care. I got no answer. This is where health care reform has failed, that the people who got Obama elected figured, "Our job is done now you do your job Obama" instead of asking, "What can I do to help you keep doing your job, Mr. Obama?"

And this is why UHC will fail in the future, if the people who want the reform can't get themselves mobilized to get the word out.

If Universal Health Care dies, don't blame the Republicans, don't blame the Blue Dogs.  They were just doing their job, disdainful and sickening though it may be.  Don't blame House or Senate Dems and definitely don't blame the President.  They did their jobs too.  They tried their damnedest to get the word out.  Blame yourselves.  If you had a campaign team that got Obama elected, but did not band together to talk up Health Care Reform, if you had a Town Hall by you but did not go, if you did nothing but post blogs and sit at home, then you have no one to blame but yourself for the death of UHC.

And let us remember:  Health Care Reform is not totally dead yet.  Just because the media with their 24-hour news cycle is trying their hardest to make it look like the White House has stopped trying for the Public Option does not neccessarily mean they have stopped trying.  The vote isn't until September, and a lot can happen in the next several weeks.  There are a lot of balls up in the air, but so many people seem to want to call the game while they're up there.  Like the Cubs who are six games behind St. Louis in their division, nothing will be set in stone until September.  Hang in there, UHC supporters.  Call your congressmen, call the White House, let them know what you want, what you demand.  There is still time.