Reply #11: Ezra Klein thinks it's a good sign for the public option (it's process talk)

[frazzled]

I don't know if he's right, but his argument makes sense.

“We’re leaning towards talking about a public option," said Harry Reid at a press conference today. Greg Sargent, along with a lot of other reporters, thought this was a weird comment. I think it reveals more than people realize, and it should make public option supporters very happy.

The negotiators can do one of two things with the public option. Figure out a compromise to put in the bill during the negotiations phase, or ignore the issue completely and let it get decided on the floor. In other words, they can talk about it or they can decide against talking about it. This quote suggests that they're leaning towards figuring out the issue in negotiations rather than leaving it to the floor.

That's a big win for public option advocates. If they get something in during negotiations, opponents will need to muster 60 votes to remove it on the floor. If the public option has the 52 supporters that Sen. Tom Harkin estimates, then that's impossible.

But if Baucus, Reid, and Dodd decide against settling the question during negotiations, then the public option's advocates will need 60 votes to add it into the bill. Harkin's 52 senators can't beat the filibuster on their own, and as he counts a solid five votes against a public option, it's not clear they can beat it all. The public option's survival, in other words, probably depends on whether it gets talked about this week in the Finance/HELP negotiations or left to battle against a filibuster on the floor.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/10/harry_reid_were_leaning_toward.html