By Dave Andrusko

We are all adults here, so it is not exactly shocking that pro-abortion President Obama and the pro-abortion Democratic congressional leadership are using political muscle in an attempt to pummel nervous Democrats into voting for Obamacare. But there is hardball and then there is hardball.

You could choose from dozens of stories, but the account in Politico.com is as good as any and better than most. Under the headline "House Dems feeling the heat," Patrick O'Connor and Jonathan Allen weave a fascinating account of a desperate White House and frantic Democratically-controlled House pulling out all the stops.

Their story largely highlights Obama's gentle persuasion tactics which combine flattery with calls for hesitant Democrats (as one Pennsylvania congressman said Obama put it) "to take a long-term view." But many Democrats who find themselves in a precarious political situation see the "long view" as a long walk off a short pier. Other accounts make clear Obama's threat not to campaign for Democrats who vote against Obamacare.

The tactics on display in the story include an impressive array of coercive techniques. One attention grabber is to threaten to run a challenger in the primary. But that's just the beginning.

Money is often described as the mother's milk of politics. According to O'Connor and Allen, "Aides to conservative Democratic lawmakers describe intense pressure tactics, including one who said his office has received calls from donors. Those calls are taken as a thinly veiled threat to withhold future financial support if the member doesn't vote as the donor wishes. One aide characterized this as "Chicago-style politics" which "we will come out firmly against it."

But for us the most important observation was a two-sided comment: the House members were listening closely to their constituents and "the president's unofficial outreach arm"--Organizing for America--"could care less about my political future," as one Democrat who opposes Obamacare put it.

You and I must be the kind of constituents who informs our member of Congress on our opposition to the Senate Health Care bill. Your voice is needed more than ever as we move down to the wire on Obamacare.

If you have not gone to www.capwiz.com/nrlc/callalert/index.tt?alertid=14772666&type=CO and/or shared this Action Alert with all your pro-life friends, please do so immediately.

Please send your comments on any or all of the parts to daveandrusko@gmail.com.

Part Three
Part One