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From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
There's been a lot of talk about the $300 million Medicaid "fix" that Louisian Sen. Mary Landrieu got for her home state just before voting in favor of cloture last night, thereby putting the Senate health bill on the floor for conisderation.
Republicans have derisively called this Harry Reid's Louisiana Purchase.
We talked about it this morning on MSNBC.
A clip is below. HERE'S THE FULL DISCUSSION.
From msnbc.com’s Carrie Dann
Just shy of two years after Iowans propelled Barack Obama to victory in the first major test of the 2008 Democratic primary, the president’s approval rating in the first caucus state has fallen below 50 percent. A new Des Moines Register poll conducted by the revered Selzer and Co. shows Obama’s positive rating at just 49 percent, a full 19 points below his approval in the state at the time of his inauguration.
(Selzer, you might remember, was the same pollster that showed Obama leading by eight points before the primary against Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.
The poll was released Saturday, just as Vice President Joe Biden was arriving in Des Moines to speak as the featured guest at the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner. Ouch.
Obama’s fiery speech at the same venue in 2007 was widely credited as a key moment that vaulted the Illinois senator over rival Hillary Clinton in the Iowa contest.
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
After tonight’s vote to put a health reform bill on the floor of the U.S. Senate for the first time in American history, Senate Democrats vowed to pass it, but acknowledged there would be changes.
“We can see the finish line, but we’re not there yet,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.
The contentious public option is one thing that may likely change, Reid acknowledged. He said that Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu, one of the final three Democratic holdouts before tonight’s vote, is working with Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tom Carper (D-DE) to come up with an “alternative” public option, one that would be “acceptable” to all Democrats."
“It’s going to be a long stretch,” Reid said, but he declared, “We have the momentum."
He said that not all 60 Democrats agree on the bill as it is now, “but they agree on the vast majority.” Reid said they agreed on more than 90 percent of the bill.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
After hours of debating whether to allow debate to begin on a health reform bill, the Senate voted in favor of letting that happen tonight along strictly partisan lines, 60-39.
The outcome had become all but assured earlier today when Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a moderate Democrat from Arkansas, the last Democratic holdout, said she would vote with her caucus.
It is important to realize that this is just the beginning, the opening kickoff if you will. Lincoln, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) have all said they would not vote for a bill that in the end that includes a public option. And more importantly Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has said he would join a Republican filibuster on the back end if a public option is included.
The other wild card: Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME). Snowe, who voted against cloture tonight, is against the "opt out" version of the public option. But, of course, she is in favor of her "Trigger" option.
CONTINUED >>
Check out this interview with Lou Dobbs on Telemundo, describing himself as one of Latinos "greatest friends." By the way, he sure sounds like he's running for something. But what? And where?
Here's the full video. Here's a clip:
THE WEEK AHEAD: Congress is back for another Saturday night health care vote, Obama's first state dinner, Palin's tour continues, plus a special peek inside the First Read Man Cave with a special goateed guest. Happy Thanksgiving.
See how many sports teams/memorabilia items you can spot! Win fun prizes (not!)
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
President Obama has now dropped, for the first time, below 50% approval in the Gallup poll. It's the second poll this week to show that result.
This puts Obama on par with Ronald Reagan, who also fell below 50% 10 months into the job -- and better than Bill Clinton, who fell below in his fourth month. Reagan was dealing with similar economic numbers.
For context, here's what we wrote about this when the possibility was first floated that Obama could fall below 50% back on Sept. 2nd:
*** They’ve done studies, you know -- 50% of the time, it works every time: As of yesterday, President Obama’s approval rating in the Gallup daily tracking poll was 52%, which is close to the 51% in our NBC poll from last month. As Gallup has noted, if Obama falls below 50% in his eighth month on the job, it will be the third-fastest drop below that mark for a new president since World War II. Gerald Ford fell below 50% in his third month, Bill Clinton in his fourth month, Ronald Reagan in his 10th month, Jimmy Carter in his 13th month, Richard Nixon in his 25th month, LBJ in his 29th month, Bush 41 in his 36th month, Bush 43 in his 37th month, and Eisenhower in his 63rd month. Note: Kennedy never fell below 50% before he was assassinated, and George W. Bush was approaching that mark right before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A few things to remember about all the analysis folks will see on polls in the coming days: There are more BAD polls now than ever before; it confuses the issue and lets some folks cherry-pick what they want. The VERY erratic robo-polling firms have added to the confusion like never before.
*** Obama has him where he wants them? This data above tell us a few things. One, Obama has had a rapid drop and that doesn’t help his prospects for things like health-care reform. Two, the most recent presidents -- Reagan, Clinton, and Bush 43 (right before 9/11) -- have experienced similar drops, suggesting an increased political polarization over the past 20 or so years. Three, taking George W. Bush out of the equation due to 9/11, every president who has ended up winning re-election since 1980 saw his approval rating drop below 50% in his first year. Moral of the story: If your goal is to get re-elected, it’s better to have your political struggles early (Clinton, Reagan) rather than later (Bush 41). Kind of like a college football season, right? Better to lose early, than late. So be careful what you read into what Obama’s approval rating right now means for his presidency. There’s really no correlation between how quickly a president’s poll numbers drop and the overall success of his presidency.
From NBC's Ken Strickland
As was expected after Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-NE) statement yesterday explaining what a vote for cloture would mean, he has now released a statement saying that he will vote with Democrats.
His full written statement after the jump:
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Ken Strickland
After reading reports that Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) has already told Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) how she'll vote tomorrow on issue of whether to bring the healthcare bill to the floor, Lincoln's office was quick respond.
"No other Senator speaks for Senator Lincoln," Lincoln's spokeswoman told NBC in an email. "She is still reviewing the bill."
Earlier in the day, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat Dick Durbin told several reporters that Lincoln had already made her voting intentions known to Reid.
"She's told Sen. Reid," Durbin said without revealing the substance of the conversation.
A few hours later, Durbin too joined in with clarifying remarks. In a written statement, he said, "In a conversation with reporters earlier today, some of my remarks regarding Sen. Lincoln were unclear and have been incorrectly interpreted.
"Let me be clear: Senator Lincoln has had a number of conversations with Sen. Reid about the health care reform legislation. She has asked important questions and there has been a positive and healthy give and take. But Sen. Lincoln has not yet signaled her intention as to how she will vote on tomorrow's cloture motion. I have worked with Sen. Lincoln for years and know that she will reach a decision that is best for her constituents, her state and the nation."
From NBC's Ken Strickland
At a news conference this morning, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) pre-emptively gave the his answer to the question everyone's been asking over the past few weeks: does Majority Leader Harry Reid have the 60 votes needed to bring the healthcare bill to the floor.
"We're not assuming a thing," Durbin said, "we're working hard to bring all Democrats together for the 60 votes necessary to proceed to this historic debate."
But it's possible Durbin and Reid are playing coy and already know they how the vote will go down Saturday night.
In a gaggle with reporters following the news conference (off-camera), Durbin was asked if he knew how Blanche Lincoln will vote on Saturday. Lincoln has been by far the most tight-lipped of the three Democratic holdouts about how she might vote.
"She's told Senator Reid," Durbin said, but wouldn't answer the obvious follow-up question. "You'll have to ask Senator Reid."
It begs the questions if fellow centrist Democrats Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu have also informed Reid.
