Reply #7: There's this explanation from DK in GDP now.

[pampango]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x226864

Update: "Kucinich revealed he’d met four times with President Obama, mostly going over his objections, but said he’d been persuaded in part because at one recent meeting he recognized how difficult Obama’s challenge is.

“I left it with a real sense of compassion for our president and what he’s going through,” he said. “We have to be compassionate towards those who are called upon to make decisions for this nation. It’s not an easy burden that he’s taken up.

Kucinich said Obama didn’t make any promises to take up the public option later.

“What he committed to was to continue to work with me on the broad concerns that I have,” he said. “He didn’t make any specific commitment.”"

"Update II: Kucinich said that ultimately he couldn’t escape the argument that “something is better than nothing.”

“People are looking for some hope that maybe something can be changed,” he said, suggesting that he may have been persuaded by Obama’s frequent argument that passing reform is essential in order to prove to Americans that government is not entirely dysfunctional.

Kucinich conceded that he decided to swallow the bill because failure would be a threat to Obama’s overall agenda. He said he has “a real desire for our president to succeed,” adding that “one of the things that bothers me is the attempt to deligitimize this presidency.”

Kucinich said Obama had offered him nothing concrete in exchange for his vote. “There was no Nebraska or Louisiana type deal,” he said."