HEALTH POLITICS: Houston, We've Got a Lieberman

We were tempted to say that providing all Americans with affordable health care is not as hard as landing on the moon... but then we remembered that we have landed on the moon...

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) may not be, to use Harry Reid's own words, "the least of Harry Reid's problems."

After all, Reid does have to worry about a couple of other guys and gals (from Roland '"no-leverage-point"  Burris to Blanche "tough race in 2010" Lincoln). But Lieberman's comments about possibly joining a Republican filibuster of health reform with a public plan certainly got everyone talking today, and he's been on our minds too. Earlier this month, while all eyes were on Maine Republican Olympia Snowe, who cast her ambivalent "aye" vote for the Senate Finance bill, anyone listening to the radio might have noticed that Joe Lieberman was making a lot of worrisome noises.

He made them louder this week and the papers and blogs are full of commentary. Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com, wondering if this is all a cry for attention, wrote a piece called "Somebody Buy Joe Lieberman a Puppy" (because his record, according to Silver, suggests that it would be an oversimplification to assume he is crying only for insurance industry campaign contributions). Tim Noah at Slate wonders whether Reid can really count on Lieberman in a pinch, (even when the pinch has nothing to do with Iraq.). As Katie Connolly notes in Newsweek's The Gaggle:

What's Lieberman got to lose? He can spend the better part of a presidential campaign trashing the Democratic nominee and yet be welcomed back into their caucus. What's his motivation to start acting like a dutiful caucus member.

Still there are complex calculations to be made here, in both policy and politics. It's not the end of the story. And as Newsweek's blog points out Lieberman left himself plenty of "wiggle room" between here and any vote on final passage. There's still time for negotiations, horse-trading, arm-wrestling, hey, even statesmanship. And there's still time for Lieberman to join a 60-vote health reform voyage that will take us over the moon.