We all try to read the tea leaves, but we don’t all come to the same conclusions. For my money, there was no point in lobbying Kent Conrad and Blanche Lincoln to vote for a public option amendment to the Senate Finance bill. Conrad wasn’t voting for it, and Lincoln wants to limit the number of times she has to vote for it. If the administration thought they could pass the public option through the Finance Committee, we wouldn’t have had any Gang of Six and we wouldn’t have discussed triggers and co-ops. The legislation would have sailed through back in July and would already be signed into law. So, why would anyone expect the administration to lean on lawmakers at this point in the process? The votes that matter haven’t happened yet.
Casual Observation
