AP is reporting that shunned Illinois Senator Roland Burris will only vote in favor of a Senate health care reform bill if it includes the public option contained in the Senate Health (HELP)Committee. Story here: http://www.google.com/...
Heck, as AP notes, Burris has very little to lose by taking this stance, as he's likely not going to run in 2010. And if he does run, he'll be a pariah, assuming nothing changes for him between now and then.
Now, I'm no fan of Burris. But if he sticks to his stance, the Senate compromise bill and vote could get quite interesting.
How likely is that? I guess it depends on Harry Reid to some extent - will Harry use the carrot or stick method (or some of both) to control the dems? And what carrots or sticks would influence Burris?
Burris probably has only his reputation - or what is left of it - to lose, and it sounds like he'd rather please the 13 million citizens of Illinois than Harry Reid. I doubt that Reid will try to punish the State of Illinois to make Burris fall in line, and I doubt that Reid has very many carrots left to offer Burris, who, after all, may have tried to buy his senate seat by raising funds for Blago and is allegedly ignored by his fellow senators.
Of course, chances are that Burris will bend in the end, but in the meantime, it's kind of nice to see what one senator claims to be willing to do who does not have a campaign coffer to fill.
I know this diary is pretty short, but this was an intersting headline that makes one think about all the political calculations that go into getting something passed in the Senate. And wouldn't it be funny if Burris turns out to be a leader of the progressives in the Senate?
But the real advantage of Burris taking this stand (at least for now), is that it may force Harry Reid to (a) demand that all Dems vote for cloture to prevent a Republican filibuster, regardless of how the Dems vote on the actual bill, and (b) include the public option in the bill that goes to the Senate floor, thus requiring 60 votes to eliminate it. That would be great, I think, as long as the bill passes in the end.
Walk softly, Roland, and carry your own big stick.
Update Thanks everyone for commenting, even if the FP bogarted the story!! LOL