Obama Has 48 Hours to Save Health Care Reform

The fate of health care reform is going to be decided in the next 48 hours, and with it the fate of the Democratic party. The only hope now of getting the bill through is for the House to bite the bullet and quickly pass the Senate bill, revising it with later legislation, says Talking Points Memo editor Josh Marshall.

But though it’d be “political suicide” to ditch the bill, Democrats are eager to do just that. Such disparate voices as Barney Frank and Evan Bayh are saying reform should be allowed to die, while others are calling for an incremental approach. “The only thing that is going to stop the rush for the exits is a clear statement from the president,” Marshall says. “But so far, silence.” (More Senate stories.)