Senate To Hold Key Health Care Test Vote

The result is not really in doubt. Tonight, 60 Democrats and zero Republicans will likely vote to end debate on a package of amendments--stripping the public option, adding stricter abortion language, etc.--to Senate health care legislation.

It sounds, boring, but it's actually highly consequential.

If all goes as planned, the successful vote will be tangible evidence that the Senate is making its final descent towards passing health care reform legislation. All that can stop it is an unforeseen political or procedural catastrophe.

To get technical, tonight you're likely to watch Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) give an implicit thumbs up to killing the public option, and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) tacitly assent to add controversial abortion language to the health care bill.

But what they and other Democrats are really doing is saying that these final changes to the health care bill are what's needed to get the entire party on board with reform--and every last one of them is necessary to end a health care filibuster. In other words, a successful effort tonight proves that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has counted his votes correctly, and the next few days' developments are a forgone conclusion: He and his party can breeze through the week, toward an up-or-down vote on health care legislation.