Returning to crass political numbers, the passing of Senator Kennedy now makes 60 votes impossible. So there's no need to pursue this goal.
Yeah, there are moderate Republicans (Snowe, Collins, etc) who could be swayed to vote on a floor bill, but not on cloture. When it comes to filibusters, you vote with your party. Period. And the Republicans would absolutely filibuster -- even knowing that cloture depended on Kennedy.
So if they don't have the votes for a watered-down "bipartisan" bill, why not go for a real bill. Something Senator Kennedy would approve of. Get the whip count to 50 or 51 and have Vice President Biden on stand-by.