Kucinich now helping to whip up votes for health care bill

[ProSense]

From Progressive Holdout To Whipping Health Care -- How Dennis Kucinich Is Helping Dems

Christina Bellantoni

A few hours after Rep. Dennis Kucinich switched his support to become a critical vote for the health care bill, he took to the House floor to ask wavering colleagues to join him. Astonished colleagues pointed to Kucinich darting from member to member on the House floor yesterday, saying privately they'd never seen him get so involved in whipping a vote.

It's not just progressives he's targeting to keep in the fold, it's everyone, a top Democratic aide told me. Members know that Kucinich - a staunch antiwar liberal long in favor of a single-payer system and often going out on a limb with his own agenda - is setting aside deep ideology to help get something passed. "It's a totally new dynamic. People are realizing he's doing it for history," the aide said.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) told me last night in the House Speaker's lobby that Kucinich's support is "a sign of Democrats recognizing how important this is."

<...>

A senior leadership aide argued to members in a memo that momentum is on their side thanks in part to Kucinich, but also as pro-life Democrats start to say they'll vote for it despite reservations about the bill. In several cases they've made the decision after consulting with clergy, something that wavering Democrats have noticed and respect.

more