Progressives Press Feingold To ‘Fulfill’ Obama’s Health Care Promises

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI)
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The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is running a new health care ad in Wisconsin pressuring Sen. Russ Feingold to fight President Obama on the public option.

PCCC members identified Feingold (D-WI) as a senator they would target to oppose the final health care compromise unless it includes a public option.

The new ad, which you can watch after the jump, says Feingold has the power to “fulfill” Obama’s public option promise. The release was timed to coincide with an email to members saying the progressive senator could be a “hero” on improving the health care bill.

The ad, running in Madison, Green Bay, and Milwaukee, says “any final health care bill without a public option is not change we can believe in.”

“The congratulations that Democrats are giving themselves in Washington DC are not shared by voters across the country who overwhelmingly want a public option and oppose being required to buy insurance from companies that put profit ahead of people’s health,” PCCC’s Adam Green said. “Russ Feingold can be a hero at this historic moment by declaring that any final bill must have a public option to win his support. That would change the entire calculus in House-Senate negotiations and force President Obama to finally fight back against Joe Lieberman’s threats — something Russ Feingold himself has said the White House has failed to do.”

Green said more than 40,000 people have signed a petition asking Feingold to take action and that $16,000 in donations has come in online to help run the ad. The group also is doing a robocall, starring self-employed Madison handyman Terry Kleinschmidt, to 10,000 Wisconsin voters per day.

They also are targeting Sens. Al Franken (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

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