FoxNews: Democratic Leadership Privately Saying They Already Have the Votes

That was on Fox, so no link yet. But Clyburn, the Democratic Whip, is no longer saying he doesn't have the votes yet. He's saying instead that by Sunday he will.

That, of course, is precisely what you'd expect him to say, whether he has the votes or not. He (and Pelosi, and Obama, and etc.) need to convince people this is inevitable.

Still, it's worth noting the change in tune:

"I feel very sure that we will vote sometime after 2 o'clock on Sunday and the bill will pass," Democratic Representative James Clyburn, the top House vote-counter, told reporters. ...

Clyburn said he and his lieutenants were trying to educate about two dozen publicly undecided Democrats on the benefits of the overhaul. He said they picked up a valuable tool when budget analysts gave the bill a good grade.

...

"There are five or six people who have concerns over here, six or 12 who have concerns over there -- there is no one thing," Clyburn said.

A business lobbyist pushing against the deal and tracking the votes said on condition of anonymity: "Our count is that they are still four short. But they are going to get there."

CNN: Cao Back on the Fence. As Tweeted by KLopez.

In an email, DrewM. points out Cao's district is +25D. He only won because he followed William "Cold Cash" Jefferson. He is extremely unlikely to hold the seat and will then, presumably, need to run in some other, more Republican-leaning district.

Does he really want to throw his career away?

If the votes for this, he might as well make it official and become a Democrat.

I've Got A Bad Feeling About Jason Altmire: Jason Altmire was on all the cable stations two days ago talking about how undecided he was, and how he was opposed to this, that, and the other thing.

I initially took that as good news, but now I'm thinking he just wanted to get on the air to make a big show about being torn about this vote so when he does vote for it, as he plans to do, he can claim that at least he took a long time pondering it and all that crap.

Just One Vote Shy? Boccieri's No-to-Yes was apparently vote 215, according to FoxNews' count.

posted by Ace at 01:57 PM

| Access Comments