Healthcare debate: point of view from the hot seat (blue dog Dem)

Healthcare debate: point of view from the hot seat

Congressman Joe Donnelly, a Blue Dog Democrat from Indiana, has both a personal and political stake in the matter. 'I don't know what's the right thing to do yet.'



Rep. Joe Donnelly talks with a crowd of about 500 at a town hall meeting in Kokomo, Ind. (Tim Bath, Kokomo Tribune / August 12, 2009)


By P.J. Huffstutter

August 15, 2009


Reporting from Kokomo, Ind. - The jeering crowd at the town hall meeting with Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly was sending a clear message that it wasn't happy with the government's ideas on healthcare reform.

Amid the grumbling, Donnelly told the crowd about the problems his 27-year-old daughter has had in finding health insurance. Molly has rheumatoid arthritis and needs $1,500 worth of medication each month. He remembered calling insurance companies to get Molly a policy -- and being denied.

The twin tugs on Donnelly showed what it's like to sit in one of the hottest hot seats of American politics. Donnelly, a sophomore congressman in a politically split stretch of northern Indiana, is part of that vulnerable group of Democrats who have yet to decide how they will vote on healthcare reform.

"I'll do the best I can, but I don't know what's the right thing to do yet," Donnelly said after the town hall. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't even know what we're going to be voting on."

Donnelly, a member of the conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, is against any plan that would increase the country's mounting deficit. He supports the public having equal access to medical care.

He calls his vote "more than a yes-no -- it's more of an obligation. To my children. To my grandchildren. To everyone."

His desire to gauge voters' temperature and keep an open mind has turned his summer recess into chaos.

No matter how he votes, Donnelly will probably alienate many constituents. "It's a sobering process," he said. "I feel a tremendous responsibility."

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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-health-blue-dog15-2009aug15,0,2022442.story