Politically speaking, the GOP Senate seat pick-up is a devastating blow to Democrats who were counting on a 60-seat majority to pass sweeping health care and health insurance reform.
With a Republican in the late-Senator Edward Kennedy’s seat, Democrats can no longer send the bill to President Obama’s desk without at least one Senate Republican vote.
Democratic leaders initially wanted the House to pass the Senate-version as-is to avoid a Republican filibuster, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today that option wasn’t possible. That leaves the president and Senate Democrats with the tough decision of letting this bill die or making even bigger concessions to earn at least one GOP vote.
Public polls are also still showing a deep division on this health reform initiative, so the Democrats are going to have to be very careful in how they continue in the coming weeks.
The most current poll from the Associate Press finds 42 percent support the health care reform plans being discussed in Congress and 42 percent oppose.