Sen. Landrieu objects to public option. So why should she care?

Dave Hornstein writes:  When every other industrialized country has a system of universal health care coverage while spending considerably less per capita on health care than the U.S., it should be obvious that there is something seriously wrong with private health insurance and it is time for the government to step in.  If some politicians have to be shamed into doing the right thing, so be it.

Lousiana Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, has received more than a million and a half dollars from private health insurance interests.  She has had taxpayer-funded insurance for most of her adult life.  Unlike many American citizens, she doesn't spend sleepless nights worrying about how the cost of a medical emergency would ruin her family's finacial future.  Even so,  Landrieu has become one of the most vocal opponents of comprehensive health care reform. 

But now a coalition of three progressive organizations are challenging Landrieu's position with a 60-second television spot that highlights contributions to the Louisiana lawmaker from insurance companies and other industry interests.  The ad shows post-Katrina crusader Karen Gadbois sharing her personal story and pointing out Landrieu's self-interested opposition to health care reform.  From Political Ticker:  The new spot is the latest element of a weeks-long campaign aimed at Landrieu and other senators who have expressed skepticism about or opposition to a public option as Congress weighs a massive overhaul of the nation's health care system. The effort has already included state-level phone campaigns, Web and radio ads...  Landrieu is also facing pressure from the right. Conservatives for Patients Rights, which opposes President Obama's health care plan, has gone on the airwaves in a dozen states — including Louisiana — that are represented by conservative Democrats or moderate Republicans viewed as possible swing votes. The spots urge viewers to call on their senators to reject any government-run option. 

Although GOP legislators and a surprising number of Democrats stubbornly oppose the public option, voters aligned with both parties see this as a necessary part of health care reform. Lawmakers who insist on defending the status quo do so at their political peril.  Watch the commercial that makes Mary Landrieu cringe...