Sen. Jon Tester with President Obama (Larry Downing/Reuters)
It's pretty clear that the jobs bill is going to fail in the Senate today, but the number that's going to matter is how many Democrats vote for it. The White House is
publicly calling out Republicans, but hopefully leaning behind the scenes on that handful of Democrats who plan to vote against their constituents' interests.
The officials emphasized their view that it is Republicans who are holding up the president’s $447 billion plan, and they downplayed Democratic defections.
Democratic unity, one official said, has “never been the test before.”
“It's not going to be now,” the official said.
But let's make the case for Democratic unity on what is the most important economic issue in the country today: putting people back to work. And in that spirit, how about we talk about just who among the Democrats is flirting with electoral disaster. The Hill's whip list:
Undecided
Max Baucus (D-Mont.)
Jim Webb (D-Va.)
Leaning No
Scott Brown (R-Mass.) *
Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) *
Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) *[...]
No on bill, yes on debate
Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.)
No on bill, lean no on debate
Jon Tester (D-Mont.) *
For the two Montanans on that list, but particularly Tester who is so far the only Democrat to actually say he might vote not just against the bill but possibly cloture, here's this:
Just a reminder of what's happening back home while you consider standing in the way of your party's plan to start getting Americans (and Montanans) back to work.
12:59 PM PT: If you want to weigh in:
Max Baucus (D-Mont.): (202) 224-2651
Jim Webb (D-Va.): (202) 224-4024
Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.): (202) 224-3954
Ben Nelson (D-Neb.): (202) 224-6551
Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.): (202) 224-4041
Jon Tester (D-Mont.): (202) 224-2644
If you call, report results in the comments.