Massa displays his independent side.

[elleng]

Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) has had an independent streak, for better or worse, since he first ran for Congress in 2006. . .

Now he’s in a strange spot in the healthcare debate.

A quick glance at the congressional supporters of the single-payer bill reveals the usual suspects. In the Senate, only Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) supports this form of health insurance. In the House, the 85 supporters fall into two predictable categories: Democratic members who identify themselves as progressive and Democrats who hail from safe districts.

Then there’s Massa.

Massa is not a paradigmatic progressive, and he certainly is not in a safe seat. . .

Democratic strategists steer their candidates away from expressing support for the single-payer option. As one Democratic strategist explained, although single-payer makes a good first impression with voters, support plummets when it gets associated with socialized medicine.

Asked if he worries about the inevitable campaign attacks on the issue, Massa is adamant.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “I ran on single-payer healthcare. I won my election on single-payer. I have been campaigning on it for five years. When we talk about anything other than what the insurance companies want, we are going to be labeled as socialists, so why not stand for something real?”

http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/massa-displays-his-independent-side-2009-07-22.html

[TheWraith]

1. Massa's got a VERY strong populist streak. nt

[PATRICK]

2. As a campaign worker

and embarrassingly small donor please realize this also comes from an ironclad adamance NOT to take corporate cash and rely on people(as in populist) donors. The ambivalence on some progressive ratings has to do with him navigating the bs land mines in the details of reform legislation, representing the particular populist flavor of the district and his own strong beliefs.

So on one hand he is a true blue purist on the issues like many here who defy the compromising and on the other he actually is there working in fog and mire of legislative war. He could make mistakes or get screwed by the latter but I know our district unlike most others has the best representation possible with the fewest strings attached.

What does he need to survive next election(besides winning on the issues)? Small donors, campaign finance reform, fair redistricting to remove the incredible gerrymandering set up Cheney for our region.
As to which is the chicken or the egg, WE, the small donors against the system are the egg. Fat chance of getting any of the others on the corporate money system to vote away their advantages and thus become sane reps of the people.