Looks like Howard Fineman was right last night on KO when he said Dennis would switch his vote because Dennis Kucinich held a presser this morning and said even though it's not the bill he wanted, he'll vote for HCR.
Greg Sargent:
In a big get for House Dems, Dennis Kucinich just made it official: He’s voting for the Senate bill, making him the first member to go on record fliping his vote from No to Yes.
“In the past week it’s become clear that the vote on the final bill will be very close,” Kucinich, who voted No last time because of the lack of the public option, said at a presser moments ago. He acknowleged that he’d be voting “not on the bill as I would like to see it, but as it is.”
“However, after careful discussions with President Obama, Speaker Pelosi” and others, Kucinich said, “I’ve decided to cast a vote in favor of the legislation.”
Kucinich’s stance was being closely watched by both sides, partly as a test of President Obama’s ability to corral the support of reluctant Dems. Obama wooed him directly with a lift on Air Force One and gave a big health care speech in his district earlier this week.
Kucinich is one of around 10 former No votes who have been aggressively wooed by Dem leaders to flip to Yes. His decision means that Nancy Pelosi’s margin for error is every so slightly bigger: Dem leaders can now afford to lose one Yes vote.
More soon.
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.
Nancy Pelosi inches one vote closer to hitting the magic number that the HOUSE needs to pass HCR.
