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[ProSense]

Video: Howard Dean Agrees With Sen. Sanders: Kill Health Reform Bill Without a Public Option

That said, Dean wasn't ready to read health care reform its final rites. And others who work on the progressive side of the debate said they are more bullish about the prospects of passing strong legislation. Richard Kirsch, national campaign manager for Health Care for America Now, said he noted that progressives in the Senate have been remarkably united in asserting their positions to Reid and indicating "that they won't be rolled by their more conservative members."

"Reconciliation is one of those things that is always there," Kirsch added. "It might not be the topic of conversation now. But it might go that way if four senators decide to wag the tail of the dog."

Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who has worked with HCAN and others on health care reform, was similarly upbeat. The goal, she said, was to keep the ball moving, pass legislation out of the Senate and then improve on its policy prescriptions once in conference committee with the House.

"The issue is to ensure that something is decent," said Lake. "I think the other thing is we need the president to weigh in, and I suspect he will weigh in very heavily in the conference committee."

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The media is making an issue of the claim that a public option may not survive, saying that the Dems may have to turn to, wait for it...Olymipia Snowe. They claim she will provide the impetus for moving to a vote on the bill.

The ultimate BS. The media ignores that the Dems standing up for a public option are doing so to counter Senators like Landrieu and Lieberman. The Dems can't get to 60 votes if they lose a few Senators who support the public option.





Edited typos.