I'm almost wondering if all this stuff about Baucus, Snowe, etc. is necessary once Deval Patrick appoints a temporary Senator.
Help me out...
I'm wondering if once a new progressive is appointed to Kennedy's seat (who won't get appointed unless he/she votes for health care reform) if the White House might just tell all the Dems and the two independents that if they ever want anything from this White House in the next three years, that they MUST vote for cloture, no matter how they vote on the final bill.
The only hiccups I can see to this-
- Byrd is physically incapable of arriving to vote for cloture, which, according to this link http://www.google.com/... does NOT appear to be the case.
- Lieberman, Baucus, Conrad or other blue dog senators won't vote for cloture (even if they vote against the bill) for fear that their Repub opponents in the future will say that they, by their cloture vote, allowed socialized medicine to be passed into law.
Thoughts?