One of the more surprising aspects yesterday’s controversy over the White House’s supposed openness to a so-called “triggered mechanism” is that Democrats have, essentially, a dedicated point man on the public option. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has taken on that roll in the Finance Committee and has come forward publicly a number of times–most recently this past Sunday–to resuscitate the public option when it seemed on the brink of death.
“I had never heard that they were for the trigger. That came as a surprise to me,” he told Slate‘s John Dickerson. “Maybe in year three there might be a public plan? Not good enough.”
It’s hard not to sympathize with the guy. Schumer, perhaps more than any Democrat, has put himself on the line for the public option–and unless it’s part of some grander, more opaque political scheme, it can’t be helpful to his efforts to have a prominent White House official come forward to undercut him.
