So I was more or less set to vote for Obama when I found out his campaign has been distributing mailers modeled directly after the insurance industry's despicable "Harry and Louise" ads that derailed health care reform in the '90s. Anyone old enough to remember these (or anyone familiar with history) should recognize what a shameless spit in the eye of the progressive movement this is. It's like distributing campaign lit featuring the Swift Boat vets. There's no getting around it: Obama is gravely jeopardizing the dream of universal health care for short-term political expedience.

If there is one thing I've been hammering away at for the past several years, it is that progressives need to go on the offensive with language and stop co-opting right-wing memes if we ever hope to be viable. I am disturbed by the lack of people who seem upset by the new "Harry and Louise." Have they simply not heard about it? Or are they in denial?

To answer the Obama camp: I want health insurance. As a self-employed person, my health insurance costs are spiraling out of control. Seriously. I can't afford to keep my plan over the long term if it the premiums keep going up at their current, exponential rate. I honestly don't know what I will do. Universal health care in which everyone participates means I pay less, and I get to keep my insurance. This issue is extremely important to me. Stop hurting the cause.

The "Harry and Louise" gambit seems so unnecessary to me. It's going to turn off voters like myself who find their consciences deeply troubled. Who knows how many lives have been lost because the insurance industry prevailed in the '90s?

Of course, with the Virginia primary so late in the season, this may all be moot as far as my vote is concerned. Maybe I'll just write in Al Gore.