Republican outreach continues anyway. Late yesterday, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) continued to huddle with Republicans on his committee, and around the same time, President Obama chatted up Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Bob Corker (Tenn.), Susan Collins (Maine) and Saxby Chambliss (Ga.). The Politico reported this morning that the president will meet with "more Republican senators at the White House" today.
Ugh. The always makes me a little barfy, but I think it's all for show and not really meaningful beyond the optics. The White House isn't stupid -- but if they believe that a single Republican will vote for healthcare reform, then we've been giving them too much credit. No Republicans will vote for any of these bills. None. Zilch. So what we're seeing is very likely an escape hatch for the White House to say, "Look, we brought Republicans to the table and they still voted no."
Then there's this verification:
[P]rivately, White House officials said the administration is moving closer to advancing the overhaul under a congressional procedure known as budget reconciliation that would make the bill immune to filibuster in the Senate.
Reconciliation huzzah!
Adding... Do you recall hearing this much about bipartisanship during the Bush years? I don't.