So, as we all know, Rep. Glenn Nye hasn't exactly endeared himself to progressives due to his votes against health reform and clean energy/climate legislation last year. That's unfortunate, as Nye is a highly endangered freshman Democrat and will certainly need help from the activist "base." Which is why I found this to be intriguing:At least nine of the 39 Democrats who voted "nay" when the House passed sweeping overhaul legislation 220-215 in November are now undecided or withholding judgment until they see Obama's final product, according to an Associated Press survey.So, here's a deal for Glenn Nye: you change your vote on health reform to "yea," and activists like me will actually give a rat's hindquarters about whether you're reelected or not. Speaking for myself, if Nye switches his vote on health reform, I will switch from "have better things to do in 2010 than waste my time with a conservadem" to "actually say some nice things about Nye and generally make an effort towards his reelection."
[...]
The retiring lawmakers are Reps. Brian Baird of Washington and Bart Gordon and John Tanner of Tennessee. The freshmen are Suzanne Kosmas of Florida, Frank Kratovil of Maryland, Scott Murphy of New York, Glenn Nye of Virginia and Michael McMahon of New York. The ninth is Rick Boucher of Virginia. Several lawmakers' offices did not reply to the AP queries and a handful of others said they would definitely vote "no."
Of course, if Nye wants more enthusiastic support from people like me, he's going to also have to rethink his opposition to clean energy and climate legislation. But for now, we'll start with health reform: switch your vote, Glenn, and gain my support; stay at "no" and I'll spend my time working for this candidate and this candidate and this candidate and against this candidate and...well, you get the idea.
