Greg Sargent points out today that new talking points being circulated by the Democratic Party’s organizing arm, OFA, suggests that organizers should tell volunteers that “the public option is just one small part of health insurance reform.”
The talking points, which were leaked to Sargent by a “disgruntled source,” are here.
OFA’s backing away from strong support of the public option isn’t exactly new. As TPMDC reported last month, OFA changed the language on its website to reflect the change. The site once said that health care reform “must… [g]uarantee choice – Every American must have the freedom to choose their plan and doctor – including the choice of a public insurance option.”
As TPMDC reported:
Now, it’s backed away from that insistence. The new language on the site urges members of Congress to support President Obama’s health care reform principles, which include a public option–but doesn’t characterize it as a make or break issue.
Still, as Sargent notes, the new talking points casting a public health insurance option as a small part of reform aren’t likely to sit well with liberals who see the public option as an absolute necessity.
