In Case You're Just Tuning In [Robert Costa]
There are a few things you need to know about tonight's vote and what it means.
— One, Obamacare (in the form of a cloture vote on Senate majority leader Harry Reid's bill) needs 60 votes tonight to be eligible for a final Senate-floor debate. Tonight's vote, in other words, is the last procedural roadblock for Democrats as they push to bring their health-care bill to its final legislative stage.
— Two, if Reid does get his 60 votes tonight, and the bill moves to the floor, it's a big win for Democrats — if but for a moment. The Senate would then go on Thanksgiving break and come back to start the final health-care debate on Monday, November 30th.
— Three, if the bill moves to the floor for a final debate, that debate could stretch on for a long time. Why? Reid will need 60 votes to end the final debate. However, Reid does not need 60 to pass the bill. He only needs 51 for that.
Think of it like this: tonight's vote to move the bill to the floor needs 60 to pass. Then, to end the debate on the bill once it's on the floor and move to a final vote, Reid needs 60 votes again. If he can clear these two hurdles, the bill will come to a final vote in the Senate, where it needs 51 votes to pass. Even if it passes in say early 2010, then the bill will then head to a conference committee between the House and the Senate, where issues will be hashed out even more before it has any chance of reaching President Obama's desk.
So, it's a long road ahead. Stay with us through the fight.