The Hauser Group | Public Relations in the Public Interest

The White House dance over whether there should be a public health insurance provision should be surprising only to those who thought we elected a truly progressive president.  We didn’t.  He’s a good Democrat and a good man but not someone inclined to take bold steps based on philosophy.

But there’s another reason we are in this predicament.  It’s called language.

The phrase “public option” is no help.  On the one hand, “public” is no longer a beneficial modifier.  Consider the following:

Public bathroom

Public pay phone

Public servant

Public defender

Public schools.

None connote vibrancy, and each is seen either as a dusty relic or something to be avoided.  Even “public broadcasting” sounds quaint in a YouTube era.  (And forget about public relations!)

Add “option,” and you have arguably the dullest phrase imaginable to sell America on what should be a transformative policy reform.

But all language comes from somewhere, and this phrase’s origins reveal the real problem: a lack of courage and clarity.

What progressives want is for better-off Americans to help pay for health insurance for those too poor to afford it.  We believe that is a good thing, a noble thing, a characteristic of America’s better angels.  We should embrace that proudly and say it directly.

Because when we don’t, we get clever and come up with a phrase whose goal is to offend no one (see also “card check,” and “late-term abortion”), thereby inspiring no one except conservative activists who see a wide-open playing field to define our agenda on their terms.  And so, the defense trots back onto the field.

The fight over national health insurance will only get nastier.  But let’s make sure the White House and leading congressional Democrats remember who and what are at stake, and urge them to speak and act proudly for a position they own, even if they hoped it was just a rental.