So the big powwow with Obama is political cover.
Maybe they think they can fool Stupak. Maybe they watched too much West Wing.
If not for the abortion funding, many, if not all of the Stupak bloc would probably be eager to vote for this bill. I think they are true believers. There are others who are interested in political cover, but I don’t know if the Stupak group is among them.
It’s a risk trusting The One and an EO. IF they do vote yes based on the EO and it is found out later they were clearly warned beforehand that the EO would not hold up, THEN they will face serious reprisals from their constituents. That would prove all they wanted was political cover.