Martha, Scott And National Health Reform

When a volunteer for the Martha Coakley campaign called to ask what time I was planning to vote — before or after work — I knew things were bad. So, with all eyes on the nail-biter special election Tuesday, here's a sampling from the blogosphere, via Kaiser Health News, with a focus on how the vote might impact national health reform legislation. Particularly thoughtful is Ezra Klein in The Washington Post:

Again: The Massachusetts election does not change the fact that a large majority of the Senate is committed to voting for this bill, and that 60 Democrats would be voting for this bill had Ted Kennedy not died of brain cancer.

Brown’s election could change the viability of procedural obstructionism, but not the will of the majority. The idea that his victory somehow makes it unfair for them to pass health-care reform, or is a betrayal of the results of the Massachusetts special election, is strange indeed.