Blanche Lincoln, directly contradicting previous statements about using reconciliation to finish off the health care bill, pronounced herself open to the process yesterday.
A moderate Democrat who had vowed to oppose any effort by party leaders to push a health care bill through the Senate with a simple majority vote is rethinking her position.
Sen. Blanche Lincoln said Tuesday that she wants to see what is in the companion bill before deciding.
If I had to guess, I would say that Lincoln’s sudden need for support from current and former Presidents drove this change. But it’s not really crucial. Reconciliation is a measure that requires only 50 votes, and public whip counts show support at that level without Lincoln. The beauty of the reconciliation process is that ConservaDems like Lincoln become irrelevant, although the fixes on offer don’t really take advantage of that fact.
But clearly, Lincoln wouldn’t need to curry favor with those who could help her re-election in Arkansas without the presence of Bill Halter’s primary challenge. So despite her insistence that she doesn’t bend to the will of any party but the people of Arkansas, clearly by her actions Lincoln shows that to be false.
The New York Times ran a “Lincoln sits in the virtuous center” story yesterday.
Tags: AR-Sen, Bill Halter, Blanche Lincoln, budget reconciliation, Health care, primaries, Reconciliation
