Today's debate and probable vote in the House of Representatives will be a historic moment, even if it produces few surprises.
Democrats, including President Obama, campaigned relentlessly on the issue of health care reform in 2008, and it remained a top domestic priority even when the economy surpassed it as the No. 1 concern for most voters.
Despite charges that he has failed to act on financial regulation and that he's "dithering" on Afghanistan, the president has been resolute on health care.
Republicans, for the most part, have decided that it would be the issue on which they would dig in and deal Obama a defeat like the one credited with costing the Democrats control of Congress two years into Bill Clinton's first term. Republican House leaders have promised that there would not be a single member of their party voting for the package. But with the Democrats' 80-seat majority, the GOP can slow this bill down but not stop it.
The House vote will once again put pressure on Maine's two Republican senators, and force them to make a decision on an issue in which the middle ground is rapidly disappearing.
Maine's House members, 1st District Rep. Chellie Pingree and 2nd District Rep. Michael Michaud, both Democrats, are expected to vote for the package, despite early reservations.
Pingree was an outspoken supporter of a single-payer system that would involve far more direct government involvement than what has been proposed. Michaud had concerns about an early version of the bill that used Medicare reimbursement rates that were a disadvantage for rural areas.
Their votes reflect strong support for health care reform in Maine and, according to polls, support for the bill's creation of a public insurance option that would compete with private insurance companies.
Adding to the pressure that puts on Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to break with their party is the endorsement of the House bill by the AARP and the AMA, two highly influential special interest groups that are major stakeholders in the health care debate.
A "no" vote now will have to come with an explanation about why a senator is siding with the health insurance industry over senior citizens and the doctors.
Snowe and Collins have made statements that put them firmly in both sides of the debate.
They have said that the current system is unsustainable and should be reformed. And they have said they would not vote for a plan with a public option, or in Snowe's case, unless it was triggered by the health care industry's failure to provide affordable coverage.
It is becoming apparent that they may soon have to make a choice. Is this the historic moment that demands change, public option or not? Or will they decide that the Democrats' reform package is the wrong way to go, and no reform at all would be better than what's on the table.
House action today will move that moment of decision forward for Maine's senators and the nation.
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