Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

October 25, 2009

Schumer Says Democrats Close to 60 Votes

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) was asked about the prospect of health care reform on Meet the Press this morning.

GREGORY: Where-- where are the votes? Conservative Democrats, Olympia Snowe, are they gonna sign up for this?

SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER: Okay. Leader Reid, and there's nobody better at counting the votes than he is, he's a wizard at it, and-- people don't give him enough credit for it. And I and others have been talking to Liberal Democrats, Moderate Democrats, Conservative Democrats. The liberals, they'd like it stronger, but they're willing to live with a level playing field, opt out. The more moderate Democrats, there are some who actually like it. As long as its a level playing field, they're comfortable with it. There are others who say-- that-- "I'm not sure I like it, but I won't hold up passage of the bill." I think we're very close to getting the 60 votes we need to move forward. And my guess is-- that the public option, level playing field, with the state opt out will be in the bill, but Leader Reid will make that decision after he talks to everybody several times.

GREGORY: That's an important development. You believe the Democrats are close to 60 votes in the Senate--

SEN. SCHUMER: Correct.

GREGORY: --for health care reform.

SEN. SCHUMER: Correct.

Here's the video clip:

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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