With the public option dead, and likely not coming back to life, President Obama huddled with Senate Democrats at the White House today bringing a familiar message: “get this done.”
According to Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), about a dozen senators, including Joe Lieberman (I-CT) spoke up at the gathering, many offering their displeasure with the fact that the public option, and its potential alternatives have been scrapped.
“Today was a very frank articulation of what’s at stake for the country, and what’s at stake for us, that we’re not going to get a chance like this for a long, long time,” Casey told reporters, “maybe not in our lifetimes.”
“It was motivational, and also big picture,” said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). “These decisions–hard decisions–in hard times, that have huge consequences for the good.”
“It was motivational, and also big picture,” Rockefeller went on. “These decisions–hard decisions–in hard times, that have huge consequences for the good.”
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) said Democrats are “getting closer by the minute…really feeling optimistic,” about the prospects for 60 votes.
I asked her whether any in the party were concerned that, with the public option dropped, the Senate bill and the House bill are now so different as to be unreconcilable. She hinted that discussions have been taking place in the background to keep the conference process smooth.
“People have been talking about that for a long time,” she said.
