Blog - Webb: Stop Health Care Reform... For Now

Adding to the previous post, another influential Democrat seems to be distancing himself from health care reform. Sen. Jim Webb [D, VA] wants to put the breaks on any plan to quickly pass the health care bill before Scott Brown is sworn in. In a statement released yesterday, he says:

In many ways the campaign in Massachusetts became a referendum not only on health care reform but also on the openness and integrity of our government process. It is vital that we restore the respect of the American people in our system of government and in our leaders. To that end, I believe it would only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated.

Brown explicitly calls yesterday’s special election in Massachusetts a referendum on health care reform. How many Democrats will use this as an excuse to back away from the issue? It will be interesting to see how well President Obama can hold his party together in the coming days