Will Olympia Snowe get a key health care moment on the Senate floor?

Much has been said already about Senator Max Baucus’s proposal for health care reform in the Finance Committee, which the Montana Democrat chairs. See our Rick Ungar and Allison Kilkenny for a couple of perspectives.

I’ve been trying to reconcile the Baucus bill’s lack of a public option with Senator Olympia Snowe’s purported desire for a ‘trigger’ that would bring a public option into existence if private companies fail to cover Americans adequately under other proposed reforms. And then I read this at CNN which has been doing a pretty good job of covering Snowe’s role in this action:

A source close to the White House said Friday that the administration is leaning toward dropping the public option, and continues to zero in on trying to convince moderate Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, another of the Senate Finance Committee negotiators, to come on board.

Snowe and the White House have been discussing a trigger provision that would mandate creation of a public health insurance option if specific thresholds for expanded coverage and other changes are not met.

Support by Snowe would improve the chances of the Senate’s Democratic majority to compile the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Republican filibuster against a health care bill.

via Baucus floats compromise on health care bill – CNN.com.

Clearly Snowe is planning to trade the trigger for her filibuster-breaking vote. Under one scenario I could imagine, Snowe’s ‘trigger’ for the public option might get proposed as an amendment to the bill during debate on the Senate floor. With all of America watching, the Maine Republican would be able to take the primary credit for crafting a compromise that let a possible public option come into existence while still holding out for a primarily private run system like the ones that exist in Switzerland and Massachusetts.

I think it wouldn’t just be enough for Senator Snowe to be credited with the idea for the trigger. By letting her modify the bill at a key moment during the debate, Senate Democrats and the White House would be giving her a rather mighty stage and the ability to take a purported accomplishment in crafting major legislation back home to her constituents.

And if her fellow Republicans crucify her for being that 60th cloture vote to override their filibuster, you know how I see that going down.

On the other hand, Snowe’s trigger could be added during committee mark up. But if the rules for the Senate debate were crafted in the right way, she’d get much more of the spotlight, and that’s ultimately what all of our Congress critters are after in the long run.