Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (D) had some choice words for his fellow party members over the weekend.
To those Democrats who are worried about passing health care reform in the wake of Republican Scott Brown’s upset victory in Massachusetts, Rendell said “get that best bill as strong and as tight as you can then send it back to the Senate and let’s see if they (Republicans) are going to filibuster.”
Rendell, who was speaking to ABC News, also said, “my message to those Democrats is don’t be afraid. … Listen, you got elected because you wanted to do something to change the quality of people’s lives – here we have a chance to do something historic and if it means some of us are going to lose because of that so be it. At least you will have lost your office fighting for something and accomplishing something.”
Rendell’s comments come at a time when House Democrats are trying to find a path ahead for health care reform. Brown’s election means that the Senate Democrats no longer have a filibuster proof majority for the legislation. The House has been mulling whether it should just pass the Senate’s bill and try to amend it later, though Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has said she doesn’t have the votes for that.
Rendell continued his criticism of his party, telling Jake Tapper in an interview for Good Morning America that his colleagues “haven’t done a very good job explaining what we’re doing. We haven’t done a good job on how well the stimulus is working, and we surely haven’t done a good job explaining what’s in the health care reform bill and what is at stake for the American people.”
He urged President Obama to start leading the fight against obstructionist Republican policies and said the president needs to be more feisty during Wednesday’s
State of the Union address. “I want him to issue a call to arms,” Rendell said. “Look if we’re going down, we the Democrats are going to go down in the 2010 election, and I am not sure we are but if we are let’s go down fighting for something we believe in let’s go down doing something. To me, it is a moral outrage that 47 million Americans don’t have health care and thousands more are losing it every day. Let’s get it done, let’s fight for them.
“It is time to play a little bit of hardball,” the governor added.
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