As I understand things, the Senate health care bill is more conservative than the House bill.

So, the House doesn’t want to pass the Senate bill because it is too conservative.

The Senate doesn’t want to make changes to the bill to make it more liberal because they think there bill is better and they don’t have the votes to make it more liberal.

So the House is left with a choice. They can either pass the Senate bill which is closer to the House bill than the status quo or they can not pass the Senate bill.

If they do the first then they get a lot closer to what they want than if they let the bill die.

Now, people are worried about reelection.

Can you imagine running against an incumbent who voted for a liberal bill and then got scared and didn’t vote for the slightly more conservative bill?

If you liked either bill then you would be mad at him for not passing either bill.

If you didn’t like either bill, would you give him the benefit of the doubt and say “well at least he realized that his first vote was a mistake.? Or would you vote for his opponent who said “I never liked either bill. I didn’t need an election in Massachusetts to get me to change my mind. I knew what was best. My opponent doesn’t understand healthcare because he NEVER should have voted for the bill to begin with.”

I just can’t see anyone supporting any Congressman who switched their vote.

What I am missing? It seems obvious to me the ONLY chance for survival is to pass the bill and hope the public is happy.