Listening to the debate on the floor today, it was clear that Democrats considered it a moral and ideological obligation to pass this bill — consequences be damned. The leadership is congratulating itself now — Pelosi is already the greatest speaker of all time apparently — but there’s a tough rough ahead in the Senate. Pelosi could lose 39 votes. Reid can’t lose any. Passage in the House definitely creates more pressure on Reid to get it done, but the slender margin — despite the size of the Democratic majority in the House and all the arm-twisting and deal-making (what did Cao get?) — has to make Senate moderates even more nervous. There’s a long string yet to be played out here, and it’s still likely to stretch into next year, by which time Pelosi’s historic accomplishment of November 7 may look foolish.
UPDATE: By the way, FPOD — nothing like socializing medicine to keep you up and at the computer.