As hard as it may be to wrestle a proverbial greased-pig, what's rarely mentioned is that few people would want to hug the wrestler after he's done. And Democrats currently look like greased-pig wrestlers as they try to get a health care reform bill enacted. If those in opposition to current plans can drag the battle out until March, it will likely move to 2020 due to the coming mid-terms.
While liberals have to worry about moderate Dems defecting, conservatives should watch for moderate Republicans who might help advance the issue. Some may be hoping to rely upon a final No vote on any ultimate legislation for cover that would amount to nothing in the end, as there would be a majority to pass any legislation.
As the only Right-side blogger, it was interesting being on a conference call dealing with the status of Health Care reform in Congress with CongressDaily's lead reporter on health care issues, Anna Edney. Bloggers from DailyKos and FireDogLake were also on the call. What's clear is that the main battle is going on among the Democrats just now.
There seems to be no genuinely viable compromise between the Senate and the House - and then there's the Democrat's base. Reid looks to be driving things, as he is in the weaker position to get the votes and needs the most help. From abortion, to a public option and more, no one can currently predict what some final bill might look like. And March looks to be the critical deadline for decision-making.
After that the CBO would be forced to re-score the bill based upon Obama's submitted budget, due in February next year. That would most likely drive up the cost creating even more problems for the Democrats. While some of them are maintaining an optimistic view, I continue to wonder if this won't all end up waiting until after the mid-terms.
It actually may play to both party's advantage to some extent to have it held over until after that. The liberal base may have moved the Democrat Party left. For now, they haven't moved it far enough to get precisely what they want.
A key for activists on both sides will be to watch what the softer elements of their respective parties do to either slow or advance the bill, hoping to take cover from an opposite vote when some final vote on the entire issue comes to pass.
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