Sen Schumer indicated tonight a list of 12 Senators wavering on the health care bill: CALL them!

[calimary]

14. I look over the list and if I've got family in some of those states, you bet I'm calling.

I do visit them, and I always worry about them, and some of them are seriously worried about potential loss of Medicaid. Have a sister in Ohio, for example, and nieces in Maine and Arizona.

They'll usually ask for zip codes. I give my relatives' ones, because after all, when I visit, I stay with them.

One more thing - and this of course applies more to unruly Dems: IF YOU DONATED TO THEIR CAMPAIGNS, seems to me you have a right to weigh in. That makes you a constituent of a different type. As I once told Heidi Heitkamp's office in North Dakota when I called about some issue - true, I don't live in North Dakota. But she was VERY happy to take my California money when she was running for the Senate. She didn't turn it down OR send it back because it came from outside North Dakota, or because I wasn't a direct constituent. Therefore, as her underwriter and bankroller, she is definitely going to hear from me now.

Btw - I joined our local Indivisible group and I know well that they advocate keeping your activism to your own local reps. And by all means, DO! But I see reasons why your speaking up to reps in other states should not necessarily be 100% ruled out. After all, if your aging dad or your brother and his family live elsewhere, you absolutely have a stake in their wellbeing and their rights and in this case, health care (!) - even if you yourself don't live in their state.