What does it mean be a true patriot, a pro-republic American? Former Senator Gary Hart says it is to recognize the role of civic virtue, of participation in the public affairs of the community, and to be among the men and women of whom future generations of Americans will say, “They were worthy of their city and their nation.”
Reporters, and news producers, love controversy – it’s good for ratings, and the coverage of “news” is clearly a business in the 21st Century. There’s never been a sexy sound-bite to be found talking about, VISTA, Habitat for Humanity, or the Peace Corps – you have to work much harder to tell these compelling human-interest stories.
In his recent “Restore the Republic” Op-Ed, Hart said:
“No single step would revitalize our fearful national spirit [more effectively] than a new era of civic republicanism. The single best vehicle to achieve this goal is the proposed Serve America Act sponsored by Senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch. It is a genuinely bipartisan response to President Obama’s challenge to Americans of all ages to serve the national community.”
It would be refreshing to see the media focus less on the whining of political wanna-be pundits and apologist politicians whose goals have obvious resonance to special interests that have overhwelmed the relationship between elected officials and those they represent, and more on the inspirational leadership exemplified by the late Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch in authoring that bill.
But the country I want to leave to my son and his generation is much better when we take the time, and initiative, to help our neighbors and give to our communities – and so, too, are my son and his peers better when they join us in those efforts. 
The dangers of debt-fueled consumerism have become old news, as the pundits have led us on a hell-bent ride to blame whoever makes the best target in terms of their ad revenues, without any investigation into how best to recover.
A great way to start, as we mark the quintessential American holiday, Thanksgiving, is for each of us to look within ourselves, to recall the lessons we’ve learned, to recall that our community matters and act on that — to give a little.
The plans have been filed, the site’s been cleared, supplies ordered, the foundation has been set, and now 
Dan Powers, a former construction worker and small business owner, is assembling the materials to build a campaign in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District to challenge incumbent U.S. Representative John Kline.
Tuesday morning at the State Office Building beside the State Capitol in St. Paul, Powers officially announced he’s running for the endorsement of the Democrat-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party and intends to replace Kline as the district’s representative in Washington. Flanked by State Representatives from his district, Powers says he can do better, and he’s running to win.
Although his family is from the northern part of the state, Dan Powers has lived in the district for close to 30 years, and he’s been on a program to listen to the residents, to make sure he knows their needs and concerns. Dan himself has faced the fear of losing insurance benefits and keeping of mortgage payments when a major injury left him unable to work for an extended period, and unsure he’d even be able to recover enough to return to work.
He’s seen the cycles of job loss in the district over the decades, and says we’ve got to have leaders in Washington who will foster the economic recovery of Minnesota, not just for the wealthy but for minimum wage workers, for blue collar workers on new “green” projects, and for white collar workers as well.
In a fast moving summary, Powers alluded to the need for an energy policy that will free us from entanglement in foreign wars while providing clean, efficient, renewable and affordable energy. He spoke about the need to control the costs of higher education while shoring up the public schools that are educating our next generation of workers. Clearly, too, Powers has an up close and personal experience with the confusing maze of health care insurance, and feels 
Kline is failing to represent the needs of the district and the nation by simply falling in line with the GOP’s anti-change, anti-Obama, preservation of the status quo that serves special interests at the expense of regular people.
Powers had started to run in the 2008 cycle, but withdrew in favor of Steve Sarvi, citing a late start which left him too far behind in the fund-raising process to mount an effective campaign.
Kline, now in his 4th term, has voted with his party over 90% of the time, and sponsored only 6 bills prior to this week despite a chairmanship, none of which have made it into law. In fact, of the 210 bills he’s co-sponsored only 1 has passed. [Update, 20 Nov 2009: Kline did hurriedly introduce 2 new bills in an apparent attempt to improve his record as soon as Powers declared his candidacy. He evidently feels some heat for introducing 2 bills per term, and may well find the threat motivates him in ways that simply holding the office has not.]
Dan Powers is back on the job after breaking his back – literally. With no obvious challengers on the horizon for the DFL endorsement he appears to already be focused on the looming face-off with Congressman Kline, and intent on winning the race to prevail on election Day in November 2010, bolstering the ranks of Democrats in D.C. to join the task of shaking up the old order and making Washington work for the voters again.
It’s been clear from many polls that a majority of Americans support the inclusion of a public health insurance option in the final health care reform bill. Something else is now clear based on the results U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) got polling over 80,000 people: the American people who voted for change last November will settle for nothing less than a robust public option.
Durbin’s poll results show that Americans want the strongest possible public option that can pass the Congress:
- Four out of five survey respondents voiced full support for a “50 state public option.”
- A majority of respondents voiced moderate to high support for a public option that includes a state “opt-out” provision.
- Roughly three out of four survey respondents voiced little or no support for a public option bill that requires states to “opt-in” before they can participate, and
- Only 12% of respondents voiced moderate to full support for a so-called “trigger,” with 65% completely opposed to such a compromise.
Review the results of Senator Durbin’s public option poll here.
Durbin will be sharing these results with the media and his colleagues in the Senate this week. He’s got solid data for the Democratic caucus — and anybody in the GOP who’s as brave as Congressman Cao – that a robust public option belongs in the final health care reform bill or incumbents risk a backlash running for re-election.
Durbin is pushing for the strongest possible public health insurance option to pass the Congress. His poll helps make the case that Americans expect Congress to include a public health insurance option in their health care reform legislation, and it had better be made available to Americans in all 50 states starting on day one.
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