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StandWithDrDean.com: Howard Dean's "Public Option" Campaign

BY Nancy Scola | Friday, April 10 2009

Several folks, the Plum Line's Greg Sargent among them, noted several days back that Howard Dean was set to a launch a targeted new health care reform campaign. The former DNC chair's focus, stories said, would be backing what's known as the "public option." That option would offer Medicare-style coverage to all Americans who want it, competing alongside private insurer options. Opponents to the public option tend to argue that the federal government is an unfair competitor, putting private insurers at a disadvantage with its size and power. Proponents make the case that giving Americans the choice of government-run insurance creates useful competition in the health care market that will drive up the quality of health care while driving down the cost.

Generally speaking, though, as the Christian Science Monitor's Alexandra Marks noted, there's not a very strong public understanding of what the public option means. As the health care debate (re)heats up in Washington, the race is on to define it. Marks notes that public opinion on the public option has varied widely from the days of Harry Truman through today. Whether a majority or minority likes the idea of a public insurance option coexisting alongside private ones depends in large part on who last defined the term.

Which brings us to StandWithDrDean.com. With the web campaign, Dean is attempting to define the public option as a nonnegotiable part of any progressive approach to health care reform. He draws a line in the sand, saying "If Barack Obama's healthcare plan gets changed to exclude a public option like Medicare, then it is not healthcare reform." (Question from a strategic perspective: Dean's three minute video is awkwardly edited. He flubs a few lines. The cuts back and forth between segments are rough. He pronounces idea "idear." Okay, that last one's just a personal quirk. But do you find the production endearingly homespun? Or not ready for prime time? Discuss.) Dean's asking for help in collecting 250,000 signatures on an online petition to be delivered to Congress in the next few months.

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