Leaders say their strategy is to convince members that nothing is set in stoneand that they are more than open to negotiations. And they’re engaging in a softer sell, prioritizing health insurance reforms while pitching the public option as something that’s way, way down the road.
“We’re going to ask, ‘Where are you now? Is there something we need to add to get [you] to vote for this?’” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is charged with ensuring that the party’s most vulnerable members are reelected in 2010.
August cinched it for the moderate Democrats, backing Obamacare in it's current form is political suicide and now party leaders are willing to "negotiate" in order to get the support needed to pass it.
Read the whole piece, then remember Nancy Pelosi's previous words.
Pelosi, during the press conference, also rejected a compromise proposal by Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) to create private, nonprofit, regional health care cooperatives instead of a national public option.
Pelosi wasn't having it: "Not instead of a public option, no," she said.
I am betting the politicians feel they need a vacation to recover from..... their vacation.
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