Whats the mood in the Democratic Caucus like right now?
There’s very hot discussion. At the second-to-last meeting with Baucus, Democrats really let loose at Baucus. When you’re getting close to the time you need to vote, public policy takes on a new type of intensity. Baucus, to his credit, had another meeting last night, and it was the best meeting we’ve ever had with the chairman. He told me they’d make sure CHIP is preserved. He knows he needs our votes. That’s why I said I wouldn’t vote for the bill. Democrats need leverage. What about Olympia Snowe? I think the world of Olympia Snowe. She’s got incredible courage, and the Republican leadership is brutal in the way they apply pressure. Much more so than the Democrats. How so? For example, when Clinton was elected president, and George Mitchell was majority leader, [Clinton] came to our Democratic Caucus, because he thought it would be nice to break bread with us. Mitchell told him he had to leave. They were part of different branches of government. And so Clinton and his Secret Service
