Sherrod Brown says that the Senate will pass a strong public option:

We’re going to enact strong insurance reform rules so they can’t game the system, the community rating system and preexisting conditions, ban all of that.

But we still need the public option to keep the insurance companies honest. We’re going to insist on it in the Senate. We’re going to get it in the Senate. They are going to do it in the House. We’re going to have a strong public option. That’s going to be a major part of our health care bill.

Not many people will remember that the whole idea for the House whip effort came back in April when it was rumored that 14 progressive Senators would band together to insist on a public plan being included in any health care bill.

We don’t have much influence over Senators so whipping them doesn’t do any good, but it’s something that they certainly might do on their own.  If the Enzi-Baucus-Snowe deal picks up 3 Republican votes, there are still more than enough progressive votes in he Senate to derail the Baucus bill.

There are a lot of Senators pissed off because the Finance committee — which was only supposed to deal with finance — decided to write the entire health care bill themselves and flip the bird to the HELP committee (which Sherrod Brown is on). 

If the progressives in the House likewise revolt, the Senate just might find the nerve to push back against Baucus. Remember, those who want a public plan have 76% of the country behind them.  Those who want to bail out Blue Cross to the tune of a trillion dollars are relying on their pissy sense of privilege being successfully sold as "fiscal responsibility."  

I won’t say it’s likely, but it  could happen.