The Democrats crossed a major hurdle today as Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) agreed to vote for cloture and the health care reform bill.
Details are gradually coming forwards as to the give and take of negotiations between Nelson and Democratic leadership. And, despite today's progress, Senator Nelson certainly gave himself an escape clause to vote against the bill in the future should things change. However, Senator Nelson's vote takes the country one step forward to reform.
So where do we go from here? There will obviously be a lot of questions. MSNBC's Luke Russert wonders how strict he'll be on the abortion issue and whether the pro-life Stupak amendment from the House will prove problematic in conference committee:
Another question is whether progressive Democratic Senators will stay on board (MSNBC just reported that Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has negotiated billions of dollars for health clinics).
Either way, there's still a ways to go before the Democrats can claim victory. Still, Senator Nelson's vote gives the Democrats new momentum in their fight for reform.
