"Wooing Nelson could be a tough task for Senate Dems"

[DearAbby]

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sixty. It's the magic number of votes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid needs to move his health care reform bill to the Senate floor and tamp down filibuster threats by Republicans.

And the 60th vote could well be Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska.

Nelson and other Democrats have spoken out against the costs of plans being discussed, and most recently the $1.1 trillion House bill, which passed last weekend.

Reid doesn't expect Republican support for the bill, so he'll need all of the 58 Democrats and the two independents who caucus with them.

Nelson, 68, recently said he would decide how to vote on whether to send the bill to the Senate floor once he sees the final version.

"I'm not going to make any kind of commitment until I see the bill," Nelson said, adding that he has not given Reid any assurance or "secret" acknowledgment of support.

"I can't decide about the procedural vote until I see the underlying bill," he told CNN.

Nelson told ABC News on Tuesday that faced with a decision on whether to "move a bill that is bad, I won't vote to move it."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/13/ben.nelson/index.html

[Bitwit1234]

1. Instead of wooing him he ought to be shown the damn door.

[babylonsister]

2. Nelson and Liebermann are two peas in a pod. They get a rush from

seeing their name in print, even if it's for negative reasons. I don't think either of them have an iota of courage of their convictions.

[TheDebbieDee]

3. Woo Nelson, my a$$........

They should simply tell him that if he votes the way they want, they will not trap him in the Senate cloakroom and kick his a$$!

[DJ13]

4. If they would stop elevating these idiots with stories like this

People like Nelson and Lieberman and Snowe wouldnt HAVE any power to thwart legislation.