From Newsweek's article,
http://www.newsweek.com/id/207406/output/print
To accomplish all of this, we have to cut the costs of health care. For families who've seen health-insurance premiums more than double—from an average of less than $6,000 a year to nearly $13,000 since 1999—one of the most controversial features of reform is one of the most vital. It's been called the "public plan."
I am posting that because some will start saying that Senator Ted Kennedy would have moved on and got a vote, whatever vote.
They may be right that, in the end, he would have not blocked a law because it did not have the public option if it could not pass, but first, he would have fought for it as much as he could.
For those who are now saying the progressive caucus is not reasonable. They are fighting, and it is what Senator Kennedy would have done.
Once the battle is lost, he may have moved on. Not before.
Edit: corrected typo in Senator Kennedy's name.