I hope someone is following the money on this one.

Yeah, someone can ask her that...and a lot more. But of course they won't. They are all working for the same company, they all have the same script.

If there was real journalism instead of corporate journamalism, there could be a huge headline, screenshots, queries, mocking humiliating humor...shame, guilt, forced accountability...

instead, here we are in the tiny type sayin'

HEY, LOOKIE, BLANCHE LINCOLN IS AN ASSHOLE!!1!!

I just don't follow Lincoln's political strategy on this. If the Arkansas voters want a Democrat, why is she acting like a Republican? And if they want a Republican, why would they vote for a Democrat who is acting like a Republican? It makes no sense.

Hmm... I read blogs on a similar topic, but i never visited your blog. I added it to favorites and i'll be your constant reader.

One can also contribute to TV ads against her:

http://www.actblue.com/page/healthcarechoice

Odds are she is going down next year regardless of how she votes due to the political climate, state of the economy, and the fact she represents a blood red state. Therefore why doesn't she just do the right thing and vote for cloture (at least) so the rest of the caucus can pass a bill with a public option by majority vote? If instead she either joins the Republican filibuster or forces removal of the public option, then good riddance to her and let's hope that Landrieu, Nelson, and Lieberman follow closely behind out the door should they persist in acting like asses too.

Her corporate masters told her to change.

Lincoln is simply pathetic. She is somebody's tool, the only question is, who is actually pulling the strings today.

As a political or re-election strategy, all she has done is make a spectacle of herself, making it less likely that anybody who really cares about the issue (pro or con) would vote for her.

Too craven to vote her conscience, she is simply not worthy of trust by anybody.

And to think she went around Arkansas trumpeting her faith as a basis for her commitment to the welfare of her constituents.

She's the main reason I told the guy from the DSCC that I was waiting to see how HCR turned out before I would renew my donations. I don't want any of my money going to support her at this point.

It's not like her constituents in Arkansas need better healthcare coverage. Oh, except for all of these people: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_11/021118.php

I had some hope that Democrats may have learned the right lessons from the campaign when Tim Kaine talked about Creigh Deeds loss:

In a meeting with editors and reporters of the Washington Post, Kaine (D) said Deeds squandered the opportunity to sell his own appealing life story as a guy who had overcome long odds and economic disadvantage. Instead, the rural state senator took the advice of campaign consultants who wrongly assumed Deeds's Democratic support was solid and believed he should instead focus on wooing independents by attacking Republican Robert F. McDonnell.

"After the [June] primary was done, his advisers basically said, distance yourself from the president. We think we have our base locked down, we've got to win independents. And we're going to win by being negative about McDonnell," Kaine said. "That was the basic strategy they pursued, despite some significant urging to the contrary."

Asked about his own advice to Deeds, who lost to McDonnell on Nov. 3 by 17 percentage points, Kaine said: "I'd rather not talk about my personal conversations. But what I will say is that I always believed from the very beginning that the paradigm in Virginia had changed and that the way to win the race was to energize voters who had demonstrated they would vote for Democrats. That I did advise him very, very early. I advised all the candidates, prior to the primary, that was a path to victory."

I guess Lincoln is going down the failed Creigh Deeds path. Well, good luck with that one. If Lincoln kills the public option she'll manage to unite Democrats and Republicans in opposition against her.

Pie meet face...

Benen: After Volsky's post, Lincoln's office changed the senator's official position, scrubbing the page of any references to allowing consumers to choose among competing plans.

Joe's acerbic puss fairly begs for a lemmon pie...
But what flavor does Blanche deserve?

All comedy aside...

Using Occam's razor there is really only one way to explain the behavior of Lieberman and Lincoln: They have been promised a ton of money under the table. I suspect its several millions to each of them. A truly substantial sum that will make both their families never have to worry again. The money will be put aside, and will be secretly transferred to them years from now.

Lincoln has been trying to straddle the issue, but now she will have to pick a side.

As was mentioned, if she goes the Creigh Deeds path, she's gonna lose to a Republican.

Joe Lieberman is certainly a factor.

After all, "he is with us on everything but the war."

Isn't WalMart based in Arkasas? How much will it cost WalMart to pay for it's employees health care or to pay the tax if even part time employees are included?

I wonder what changed Blanche Linclon's mind about the bill?

Aren't there alot if insurance companies based in CT?
I wonder why Lieberman would risk his career to derail this bill?

I wonder if it is possible to pay attention to politics today without becoming completely cynical?

She just needs to tell her redneck voters that she forced the other Dems to make their plan more conservative. It doesn't matter what the specific issue is. Public option is in the news, so that's it.

"So, why were you for giving consumers the choice of a public option before you were against it?"

Why was she for it WHILE she was against it?

Walton family money will take care of former-Senator Blanche Lincoln in 2011. Watch her take a well paying position at University of Arkansas. The university will be happy to launder the funds and get a distinguished guest lecturer.

And who knows, she could probably pick up some "lobbying" on the side as a "second job".

None of these perks of former-Senatedom are as predictably assured if BLL makes a "vote of conscience" to implement HCR over the wishes of industry. (Most politicians have a "conscience" but actual existence of a conscience -- sans quote marks -- is not so regularly seen in ConservaDems.)

Blanche Lincoln hasn't got a prayer in her next election. Even if she voted to sustain a GOP filibuster and voted against HCR in final passage, whatever mouth-breather the GOP puts up against her in Arkansas next year will accuse her of everything from Communism to Satanism and she'll be clobbered.
Either:
a. she's too dumb to realize this and thinks shifting right will get her re-elected (not likely)
b. she opposes the public option out of honest conviction (yeah, sure)
c. the insurance industry has promised to make a generous contribution to her retirement fund (bingo!)