Last Call

Politico is saying Dem Rep. Bart Stupak is playing the Judas ace in the hole:  working with Senate Republicans to kill the bill.

An aide to Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) coordinated opposition to the Senate health bill’s abortion compromise this morning with the Republican Senate leadership, according to a chain of frantic emails obtained this morning by POLITICO.

Stupak, in an interview with POLITICO, called the Senate bill’s abortion position "unacceptable" – but disavowed his staffer’s collaboration with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“I never talked to McConnell about the health care bill,” said Stupak, adding that “I did not authorize the email [which] “was sent without my knowledge.”

Stupak said that he has discussed the Senate’s abortion position with Democratic senators Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Robert Casey (Penn.), who both hold conservative views on abortion.

Stupak's continued opposition to the Senate plan, despite those conversations and intense pressure from the White House, suggests that reconciling it with the House bill may prove politically challenging.

Lieberman and Nelson and Mary Landrieu got their 30 pieces of silver.  Now Bart Stupak and the Blue Dogs want their cut or else.

And these are the Democrats.  Apparently, since Democrats are really, really bad at being sneaky assholes, they're turning to the GOP for advice on this.