“Oh, I can’t think about this now! I’ll go crazy if I do! I’ll think about it tomorrow. But I must think about it. I must think about it. What is there to do? What is there that matters?”
—Scarlett O’Hara, Gone With the Wind
Like the calculating Southern belle in Margaret Mitchell’s classic novel, who endeavored to ignore the realities and consequences of war, Sen. Blanche Lincoln is bent on making the rest of us believe she is the most reluctant participant in the most epic of legislative wars.
Lincoln, the last holdout, didn’t want to be on the record as the one Democrat who killed Sen. Harry Reid’s legislation tonight. Though voting to move the debate forward, she left herself little wiggle room for the future. As indicated in her floor speech and comment to reporters today, she said would not vote in favor of a final bill that contained a public option and would even support a filibuster.
So, she goes home with the family for Thanksgiving. Beyond that, nothing really changes. Her anti-public-option talk will inevitability lead to more clamoring from the left. They’ll continue to promote Lt. Gov. Bill Halter for a Democratic primary in hopes of pressuring her to support a public option. And, as expected, her vote has emboldened her would-be Republican opponents. At least Harry Reid isn’t screaming in her ear.
Bottom Line: She took one for the team tonight.
— David J. Sanders is a columnist with Stephens Media in Little Rock, Ark. He wrote about Senator Lincoln for NRO on Friday.