Baloney! How many in Congress actually respect any freaking deadline the "president" imposes? There is no frenzy of arm-twisting going on; everyone is too busy looking at their own polling internals. Nobody up on the hill cares what BO wants, anymore. They know his "health-care reform bill" is the kiss of death.
Even Pelosi doesn't care anymroe. She's exhausted, look at her. She doesn't want to call a vote because she KNOWS it won't win. Reid is planning his next job lobbying, but not many want him on their side, either.
Congress, both sides, would like this mess to go away. ALL the dems are praying for some new crisis to take BO's mind off healthcare.
I hope the picture you paint of Dems in total CYA mode is accurate and I believe it is. The scenario I imagine is if Stretch and Pinky can’t somehow guarantee the votes, some of their members will pull out last minute. So it’s a guessing game because many of the dems wont want to be branded if it’s not sure to pass. I do believe though that there IS massive arm twisting going on and I’m sure Stretch’s appointment of Levin is giving her even more ability to make promises.