7/9: No One Tells Max What To Do!

As we reported yesterday, liberal bloggers were delighted to learn that Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) to "stop chasing Republican votes" on health care reform. Lefty bloggers have repeatedly criticized Baucus's efforts to compromise on various progressive priorities (e.g., the public option) in order to win GOP votes for health reform, and they praised Reid for "dropping futile attempts to appease Republicans by weakening major legislation." However, Roll Call reports that Baucus is still trying to win GOP support, "despite an urgent warning from Senate Democratic leaders that the potential cost of wooing GOP votes could have a devastating effect on Democratic support for the measure." Not surprisingly, liberal bloggers are upset about this report, calling Baucus's logic "maddening" and criticizing his "bizarre fetish for process over policy goals".

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• Liberal bloggers (Cohn, Klein, Yglesias, Hamsher, publius) are discussing how to pay for health care reform. Meanwhile, conservative bloggers (Capretta, Klein) think the health reform effort is floundering.
• Liberal bloggers (McCarter, Kurtz, Dayen, Scarecrow, Benen) are pleased that Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) shifted her rhetoric slightly on health care reform, saying that legislation should include "[a] public plan or non-profit plan that can accomplish the same goals as those of a public plan."
• Liberal bloggers (Waldman, Benen, Bowers) are praising Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) for urging his Dem colleagues to stick together on procedural votes, and they're criticizing Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) for pushing back against Durbin's request.
• Liberal bloggers (Greenwald, Dayen, BooMan, Llorens) are furious that the Obama admin. believes it has the right "to imprison non-U.S. citizens indefinitely even if they have been acquitted of terrorism charges by a U.S. military commission." However, one liberal blogger is defending the Obama admin.'s position.
• Liberal bloggers (Kurtz, Wheeler, Smith) are buzzing about the revelation that Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) urged Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) to pay off the latter's mistress and her husband.
• Liberal bloggers (Cole, Benen, Neiwert, Aravosis) are buzzing about Greg Sargent's allegation that "one of the chief reasons Sarah Palin has given for resigning as Governor of Alaska" may be false.
• Conservative bloggers (Hinderaker, Klein, Geraghty, Morrissey) are buzzing about Obama's declining poll numbers.
• Conservative bloggers (Lane, Goldfarb, JammieWearingFool) are mocking the WH for misspelling Obama's name in a press release.

BAUCUS: I Got A Fever, And The Only Prescription Is More Bipartisanship

Liberal bloggers are angry that Baucus is still trying to win GOP votes for health reform, even though progressive Dems are balking at some of his proposed compromises:

• The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen: "Apparently, as Baucus sees it, the opinions of his leadership and the White House are nice, but if he make the bill just bad enough to get a handful of Republicans to support it, Democrats will accept it, concluding that it's better than nothing. [...] It's just maddening. What will inspire public confidence is if lawmakers pass a good bill that lowers costs, offers consumers choices, and makes quality, affordable care available to everyone. The public will have less confidence -- and the reform will be less 'durable' and 'sustainable' -- in a package that was made deliberately worse to satisfy the demands of a handful of members of a failed party."
• Balloon Juice's Tim F.: "Baucus is not a complete idiot. Almost no one in DC rakes in more insurer cash, so he certainly has naked self-interest as well as this bizarre fetish for process over policy goals. Whatever the problem is with Max Baucus, he is Harry Reid's problem. If reforming health care matters more than one Senator's process fetish then Reid needs to put everything on the table. Make Baucus decide whether compromise with a bad-faith partner matters more than his committee seniority. If that is too drastic, pick any of the dozens of plums that the Senate offers a senior legislator like Baucus. This is Reid's test. Talk isn't working. If Reid fails, I cannot see how he has much credibility left as Majority Leader."

BAYH: There He Goes Again

Liberal bloggers are criticizing Bayh for asserting his right to join GOP filibusters of Dem legislation:

• Congress Matters' David Waldman: "Who's holding out on the Dems' anti-filibuster strategy? Why, it's Evan Bayh, of course! [...L]eave it to Evan Bayh to be the jackass with the mouth big enough to go to the press and declare himself the voice of internal Democratic opposition to the Democratic agenda. [NE Sen.] Ben Nelson at least has the good sense to proceed quietly."
• The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen: "It's hard to overstate how absurd [Bayh's argument] is. If legislation Bayh doesn't like comes to the floor, he can vote against it. Before that, he can offer amendments, give speeches, and encourage others to agree with him. Senators, as he noted, aren't sheep. Some bills may enjoy the party's support, but not everyone in the party will see the issue the same way. But that's not what Bayh is arguing here. He's saying he's inclined to help the failed, discredited minority block the Senate from even giving bills a vote in the first place. It's not enough for Bayh to vote with Republicans on key issues, he wants to help the GOP ensure there is no vote."
• Open Left's Chris Bowers: "Democrats don't need 60 votes to pass legislation in the Senate. Instead, only 50 votes plus [VP Joe] Biden are required to pass legislation, while 60 votes are required to bring a bill to a vote. Now that we have 60 votes in the Senate, conservative Senate Democrats need to allow all Democratic bills to come to a vote. The response to this request from [LA Sen.] Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson has been predictably negative. The response from conservodem ringleader Evan Bayh is actually kind of hilarious."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: A Republican Hot Streak?

FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver thinks the GOP is recruiting strong Senate candidates:

"[Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)] is probably still an underdog against the eventual Democratic nominee -- most likely State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, a 33-year-old friend of Barack Obama's who has considerable political upside. But the race is now going to be competitive, whereas if [AG Lisa Madigan (D)] had run, or Kirk hadn't, it probably wouldn't have been. And this isn't the only recruitment coup that the Republicans have had of late. Earlier this weak, New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said she'd challenge [Rep.] Paul Hodes for Judd Gregg's seat in New Hampshire, which substantially improves the Republicans' chances of holding on. And of course, [Gov.] Charlie Crist is running in Florida (even if half of Republican establishment wish he weren't). Meanwhile [AG] Roy Cooper, the Democrats' preferred candidate in North Carolina, won't be running there.

By no means have Republicans batted 1.000. They missed a big opportunity in Pennsylvania when [ex-Gov.] Tom Ridge declined to run. Meanwhile, it looks like they may get a serious race in Louisiana when they were hoping to avoid one, with U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon apparently set to challenge David Vitter.

Increasingly, however, the Republicans have a bit of momentum in the Senate picture. And the White House's decision to recruit both [ex-NM Gov.] Janet Napolitano and [ex-KS Gov.] Kathleen Sebelius into their cabinet -- two women who were uniquely qualified to mount competitive races in Arizona and Kansas, respectively -- is looking increasingly suspect."

LEST WE FORGET: Eventually He Wore Them Down To The Point Where They Hired One

From Overheard in the Office:

Support staff: Hello, how can I help you?
Caller: Can I speak to Nora?
Support staff: I'm sorry, there is no Nora in this office.
Caller: I called yesterday too.
Support staff: Yes, I remember. There was no Nora yesterday, either.