Blanche Lincoln has just confirmed she's on board and will vote yes to open debate.
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) said she’d deliver the deciding vote to push forward with a sweeping health reform plan in the Senate Saturday, ending days of speculation over whether President Obama’s signature priority would proceed to the floor or suffer a debilitating blow.
As with several centrists before her, Lincoln’s yes vote to start debate came wrapped in series of serious concerns about the current bill – and she said it would require major revisions before she could cast a similar vote in favor of final passage.
"I'm prepared to vote against moving to the next stage of consideration as long as a public option is included," Lincoln said, adding that she specifically would vote against the version of the public option in the current Senate plan.
The final vote is scheduled for 8 p.m., but with Lincoln’s announcement in hand, Senate Majority Harry Reid has the 60 votes he needs to begin debate on the bill after Thanksgiving and break any Republican attempt to hold up debate.
But Lincoln’s remarks and those of the second-to-last holdout, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), showed Reid that his celebration over Saturday’s victory will be short-lived. Landrieu made clear that Reid’s current bill is fatally flawed in her eyes and in the eyes of other moderate colleagues, particularly over its inclusion of a public health insurance plan.
“I believe it is going to be very clear at some point very soon that there are not 60 votes for the current provision in the bill and that the leader and the leadership will have to make a decision, and I trust they will figure out how to do that,” Landrieu said.