PO Rumor Mill On Steroids
23 October 2009 10:16 am by Taylor Marsh
“I don’t know whether Mike Allen can actually count votes or not.” – Valerie Jarrett (on “Morning Joe”)
Grain of salt alert on everything you’re reading this morning.
Word of note. “Robust” seems to be the kicker in the tale at this point.
Does Speaker Pelosi have the votes on a “robust” public option? Mike Allen says no, while getting this part of the story correct in an update, as far as I can tell:
Nadeam Elshami, deputy communications director and senior adviser to the speaker, said: “Speculation that a final decision has been made about the public option are not accurate. We continue to work with all the members of the caucus to build consensus.”
A House Democratic official said: “The leadership did not tell progressives last night that the robust public option is off the table. The votes are still being counted.”
Ms. Nadeam Elshami’s quote above is confirmed.
There are enough leaks on this story to speculate anything. There are also, however, some unavoidable realities that play into it. If you want to tilt the odds, call numbers are in t4h’s diary.
Public option connotes many things. What progressives are looking for is a “robust” public option. That’s the one thing that seems to be in the wind right now.
