What will Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) do tomorrow? Perhaps Harry Reid knows.
“She’s told Senator Reid,” Sen. Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) told reporters after a Friday press conference. “You will have to ask Senator Reid.”
Reid has zero margin for error tomorrow, and it’s difficult to imagine he would move forward if he knew Lincoln planned to vote “no.” A very telling sign in.
Of all the health care reform fence-sitters in the Democratic party, Lincoln is the only one that faces re-election next year, and her prospects don’t look particularly good. As a result, pinning down her intentions has been particularly difficult. But in a coup, Congress Daily caught up with Lincoln yesterday, and she hinted that she may be on board herself.
“Without a doubt [Reid] has always stressed … that you gotta believe in a little bit of the process,” Lincoln said. “That’s what we’re here for. I mean, certainly knowing that not all 100 of us are going to agree on anything, you gotta be able to depend a little bit on the process. It gives you an opportunity to make the case and move things forward.”
Lincoln stressed, of course, that she has to finish reading the bill before making up her mind, but said she’d announce her intentions publicly before the vote.
