In Health Vote, Democrats Weigh Success vs. Survival
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In Health Vote, Democrats Weigh Success vs. SurvivalIn Health Vote, Democrats Weigh Success vs. SurvivalIn the homestretch of the health care debate,Energy saving lampsone obvious question being asked across the capital is whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi will find 216 votes to pass the bill.#x For a group of particularly jittery Democrats, the better question may be this: Who will be allowed to slip away?
Yes, the 11th-hour vote tallying is under way at a brisk pace in offices from Capitol Hill to the West Wing, with Ms. Pelosi and her lieutenants keeping hour-by-hour tabs on wavering Democrats.But as the week inches along, with momentum steadily building to a Sunday vote, the party leaders are also beginning to decide which politically endangered lawmakers will be given absolution to vote no.Will it be Representative Steve Driehaus of Ohio, who supported the bill last year, but faces a bigger re-election threat than most of his colleagues? Or Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania,Energy saving lampswho voted no last year and is being besieged by health care opponents in his conservative district that President Obama lost in 2008? Or Bill Owens of New York, #xwho came to Congress last year in a special election and has a seat that Republicans are eagerly trying to win back?There are, of course, very few votes to spare. Yet there are some. And even most Republican leaders concede that the mystery is not so much whether Democrats will reach the magic number of 216, but rather whose names will be included as yes votes in the final count.“Every vote around here is a heavy lift,” Ms. Pelosi told reporters Thursday.That point has been underscored repeatedly this week as on-the-fence lawmakers make their decisions. It has become such a vote-by-vote game that the White House began sending out alerts to reporters each time a Democrat agreed to support the legislation.But each development, in fact, has a larger meaning.And with every addition to the yes column, another Democrat potentially gets a pass. #xRepresentative Bart Gordon of Tennessee, who had been steadfastly opposed to the legislation,State Flags,Energy saving lampsannounced Thursday that he intended to support the bill. Mr. Gordon is retiring this year, so his vote to pass the measure does not necessarily mean that Democrats will get 217 votes, but rather it may let another Democrat off the hook.相关的主题文章：
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