Sam Stein Reports:

Reid Still Has Cards To Play As Health Care Enters Final Stages

In the end, the cards that Reid still has to play — limited but still potentially effective — are enough to persuade Democrats that he has a shot at cobbling together the 60 votes needed to get a strong bill past the Senate.

But for some progressive, the history of leadership caving to the demands of those who hold out the longest — along with the White House’s desire to simply get some bill passed — loom large over the debate’s remaining weeks.

“They are going to do what they can to get the votes,” said Joe Trippi, a long-time Democratic strategist. “It is really a question of who is going to blink first. And I have to believe that even if they earnestly, all-out fight for [the public plan] they are going to cave in the end.”