This is going to be short, because I'm at work, but I just came across reports of Durbin's townhall yesterday where he's very clear that he's willing to accept a bill without a public option.
Just a couple of the stories on the townhall:
http://www.suntimes.com/...
and
http://www.foxnews.com/...
Some very disappointing excepts:
The No. 2 Senate Democrat said Sunday that he's "open" to health care reform that doesn't include a government-run "public option," the latest indication that the Democrats' package could be scaled back as Senate negotiators try to hammer out a bipartisan compromise and constituents flood town halls to express discontent with the current legislation.
Paving the way....
... such a compromise might leave the public option behind.
Asked whether Democrats could support such a bill, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said he's personally willing to consider it.
"It doesn't have to be a perfect bill," the Illinois Democrat said. "I support a public option, but, yes, I am open."
So where does the public option rank with Durbin?
He listed his four top priorities for the bill and the "public option" government-financed health plan was not among them.
It also ticked me off that he kept referring to Ted Kennedy as being a reason for why he should abandon the public option, because it's what Kennedy would do:
... [Durbin] hopes his fellow senators and congressmen will be ready to compromise in the spirit of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy
More importantly we have to negotiate now in [Kennedy's] spirit, try to find a bipartisan way through this. Usually at the end of the day, he would make a compromise that his most loyal fans would be disappointed with.
Yea, I'm sure Kennedy would be trying to get everyone to give up the public option so we can get 2 Republicans to vote for cloture... sounds right to me!
I know Durbin is probably just being practical, but I wish our leaders had some fight in them. It's lack of will that is keeping us from getting a good bill, and if we could whip our members into line on important issues, we'd have passed this bill already.