Congratulations to everyone who has been working tirelessly to see that a public option is included in the Senate bill. Harry Reid listened to you. Apparently, the Democratic members of Congress listened to you, too, because they seem to be willing to vote for cloture to start debate on a bill with a public option. And, despite some skepticism, the White House is now convinced that they can get a public option through the Senate on the first pass. This is better than anything that was realistically imaginable in the spring.
When this process started, the Democrats could not rely on Teddy Kennedy or Robert Byrd to be healthy enough to vote. Al Franken wasn’t seated yet, and Arlen Specter was battling a Republican primary challenge from his right, not his left. With a bit of luck, a lot of patience, a bit of hardball (here in Pennsylvania and up there in Massachusetts), and a solid strategy, the president has done something at the beginning that I didn’t even think they could do at the end without resorting to the budget reconciliation process.
You are going to hear progressives complaining about the opt-out provision, and castigating the president for taking so long to come on board. Don’t worry. It’s what they do. The president has already won the biggest battle so long as Harry Reid is right that he has the sixty votes. If Reid doesn’t have the sixty votes, the president just made a giant error that was not necessary.
