Obama's health care legacy hangs on 216 House votes

[cal04]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/03/14/90331/obamas-health-care-legacy-hangs.html#ixzz0iBGYWIBK

The looming vote for final passage of the historic health-care bill is the stiffest challenge House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn has faced in his three-plus years as the lawmaker responsible for counting heads and ensuring passage of major legislation.

The South Carolina Democrat has spent the past week in endless meetings and conversations with key factions of Democrats in the House of Representatives, among them black, Hispanic and the fiscally conservative "Blue Dog" lawmakers.

The forthcoming health-care vote puts Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, in the tough position of securing enough Democratic support to gain final passage of a historic initiative that will help define the legacy of President Barack Obama. Thirty-nine Democrats voted against the original House health-care measure in November, 24 of them Blue Dogs.

(snip)
"I need 216 votes to pass this bill," Clyburn told McClatchy. "I think I'm going to get 216 votes. It could be closer than last time. All I want is 216 votes."

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Blue dogs in the House need to remember

that every mother's one of them is up for reelection this year, and that if they shoot down this historic legislation, they may watch their own campaigns go down in flames come November.

[beyurslf]

2. It is not just his health care legacy riding on this. His legacy as president and even

his re-election could ride on passing health car reform. Of course, the jobs of those in congress are also on the line (and all of them in the House before Obama's.)