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One of the most fun things in all of politics as far as I'm concerned is to be involved in the final few days, boiler room operation for a close vote. It is intense, it is frustrating, it is nerve-wracking, it is exciting, and it is fascinating all at the same time. Being able to be part of the outside whipping operation on the heath care bill was one of the best experiences of my life, rating right up there with being part of the famous 1992 Clinton war room in Little Rock.
I am not going to tell any of the secrets from the process this time - sorry, but I'm not going to reveal, at least until I write my memoirs, which congresswoman we only got by getting Hollywood celebrities to call her - but I did want to throw out some general thoughts about this process to demythologize things a bit:
1. The "giving a pass" thing that everyone in the media talks about so much, like they are such big insiders with all this secret knowledge, is talked about way more than it's actually done on a big vote like this. While I wasn't in the room for conversations between Congress members and the President or Speaker, our boiler room was never given any sense to back off of maximum pressure of wavering members, or to tread lightly with defectors. This was too important a vote, and too close a vote, for that to be happening.
2. People on the outside very much underestimate the fluidity of the whipping process. In the days leading up to the vote, people always ask "well, how many votes do you have?" In fact, it is very hard to determine the answer to that question because members of Congress have dozens of variations to the question of whether they will vote yes ("I'm trying to get there," "I just need this one thing," "I hope to get there," "I don't want to vote for it but might if you really, really need me," etc.), plus members you think are voting yes suddenly start to stray from the fold for one reason or another. A big part of the whipping process, in fact, is keeping the likely yes votes from just kind of drifting over to the other side.
3. Part of the whipping process is exposing the lies. One congressman I will mention by name is Jason Altmire, because he lied so blatantly and really screwed himself in the process. First he repeatedly told both the Speaker and Democrats back home that he would be there if needed. Then he decided to go back on that promise and announce a no vote, but told the Democrats back home that he had been given a "pass" when nothing of the kind had happened. When the folks back home heard he was lying about this, they went crazy. Altmire's hometown Democrats will probably never trust him, or help him, again.
4. Hardball was played with all wavering votes, most of whom were moderates. I know it sometimes feels like hardball is played with progressives, and I certainly get frustrated with deals our team is expected to accept a lot of the time. But the fact is, at the end of the process in a close vote like this, every wavering vote is treated equally: like another vote we need to have. And most of the waverers were moderate members. We were never asked to pull a punch or back off on any vote at the end - hardball in fact was encouraged.
5. A lot of people deserve credit, but Nancy Pelosi is my hero. She knew exactly where things were with each member, took in every ounce of information she was fed, applied pressure in all the right places, and made things happen.
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