I wrote over at Huffington Post a month ago about Rick Scott, with the Conservatives For Patient Rights organization, crowing that he’d managed to kill the public option by delaying the passage of health care reform until after August recess:

"Keep Up the Fight – Victory is in Sight!

Thanks to a collective effort by a loose knit coalition of free market health care advocates, conservative grassroots groups, and some reasonable-minded elected officials, I am very confident, after meetings on the Hill this week, that if Congress does not pass a health care bill with the public option before Labor Day, the public option is dead. While Victory is near, we must not rest.

Earlier today, Senate Majority Harry Reid acknowledged that there would be no health care vote in the Senate until the fall. Still, liberal, pro-government health care advocates are intensifying their campaigns and increasing the decibel level of their rhetoric to demonize elected officials who are rightly opposed to the public option and a government take-over of health care. We must meet them head on and continue with ads, news events (particularly in the grassroots), media appearances, etc, to finish off the public option, which is no option at all as it would be devastating to patients, our economy and our health care system."

Now Rick Scott and his cohort of crazies are getting worried about our pushback in support of the public option via the donations to our ActBlue Page, which is now up to over $175,000 to progressive Democrats in the House who said they would not vote for a health insurance bill that did not have a strong, robust public option in it, including the conference report.

Check out Rick Scott’s crazed memo to his mouthbreathers to start infiltrating Democratic town halls within the last two weeks of this month to push back against the public option as an essential part of health care reform:

 “Rumors of the death of the public option have been greatly exaggerated,” reads the memo, which is likely to be taken by liberal groups pushing for the public option as a sign that they need to redouble their fundraising and organizing efforts.

CPR’s memo confirms explicitly that the group will work to foment opposition to the public option at town halls. “It is critical that we stay focused on the public option and not become mired in sideshows or discussions of the public option under any other name,” it says. “We must continue to encourage people to attend town hall forums and other public events to stay focused on stopping the public option.”“To paraphrase the President’s Chief of Staff, `there is opportunity in quagmire,’ and until President Obama admits it’s off the table, or a bill is passed with it removed, our primary goal is to stop the public option cold.”

When they’re getting worried about the excellent work that we’ve been doing here at Firedoglake to support the public option, and the money we’ve raised so far on ActBlue, and the huge grassroots support in favor of the public option, then you know that we’re on the right path to saving the public option as an essential part of health care reform.  

Let’s keep up the excellent work by going to Democratic townhalls by making the best case for the public option, and stating why regional co-operatives will not work as a crucial cost containment in lowering premiums. We’re going to need you guys more than ever because the crazies will be out in full force at these Democratic townhalls.