In Health Vote, Democrats Weigh Success vs. Survival

By JEFF ZELENY
NYT

WASHINGTON — In the homestretch of the health care debate, one obvious question being asked across the capital is whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi will find 216 votes to pass the bill. For a group of particularly jittery Democrats, the better question may be this: Who will be allowed to slip away?

Yes, the 11th-hour vote tallying is under way at a brisk pace in offices from Capitol Hill to the West Wing, with Ms. Pelosi and her lieutenants keeping hour-by-hour tabs on wavering Democrats.

But as the week inches along, with momentum steadily building to a Sunday vote, the party leaders are also beginning to decide which politically endangered lawmakers will be given absolution to vote no.

Will it be Representative Steve Driehaus of Ohio, who supported the bill last year, but faces a bigger re-election threat than most of his colleagues? Or Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania, who voted no last year and is being besieged by health care opponents in his conservative district that President Obama lost in 2008? Or Bill Owens of New York, who came to Congress last year in a special election and has a seat that Republicans are eagerly trying to win back?

(More here.)