Obama and Republicans: Who Will Blink First?
But that's about as far as it got.
"If this 7 1/2 hours showed anything yesterday, it showed us just how deep the divide is on a good part of this," CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer said on "The Early Show." "So I don't think there is going to be bipartisanship." In fact, he added, Democrats will probably move forward on their own.
But Schieffer predicts that if Democrats try to pass legislation in a reconciliation bill (which would obviate any chance of a Republican filibuster), it would come at an enormous cost by prompting the GOP to become the Party of No Way. "Republicans will just go crazy about this," he said, "and I think they that will vow to tie up the Senate on every other single issue that comes before it this year.
"The Democrats by the same token will be saying, 'Okay, go ahead and try to do that and see what the voters think of that and, as the president said, then we'll sort it all out in November.'
"So I don't see much coming out of this right now — I think the divide is still there."
"This is basically the president taking all the chips, putting them in the middle of the table, saying 'I'm all in on this deal, we're going to pass this health care the way it is. I will risk my presidency, I will risk the fall elections on this one issue come hell or high water.' Am I reading that right?" asked "Early Show" anchor Harry Smith.
"I think you're right," said Schieffer, "and he is basically daring the Republicans to do the same thing. He's saying, 'OK, use whatever tactics you can to try to tie this thing up, let's see what the voters think about it.'
"But here's the other part in all this, Harry: I'm not sure at this moment that there are enough votes in the House of Representatives to pass what the president wants to do, because there are still very big disagreements between Democrats within the House and between Democrats in the House and the Senate.
"So I just see trouble ahead."
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