Mike, I would advise a wee bit of caution here. Bob Dole is, generally speaking, a decent guy....but let's not have a Massachusetts repeat where everybody's required to get health insurance, and if "necessary" with taxpayer subsidies. As you are surely aware, that's the kind of "reform" that occurred under Mitt Romney and the private insurers were gleeful because there was no government operated insurance to force competition. Massachusetts has an unsustainable system, and if something like that passes under the Democratic ((gutless) majority, the Republicans will chuckle and win. Bob Dole is smart enough to know that...so it's critical to get him on the record and quick. Does he support a single-payer system, or even the weak sister public option. As it is, the insurance companies and the pharmas, along with the corporate set in general, own what should be "our" government.

If recent history is any guide, the radical right will brand Dole as a traitor. It seems that when they get in this mode they have to purge purge purge, cool off, and then finally start to coalesce under a new charismatic leader.

My only question about this is: Where was Bob Dole in June and July when the "Death Panels" and "Socialism" and "Taking away our freedoms" nonsense was being bandied about? Where was he in August during the orchestrated astroturf uprisings?

This smacks of giving cover to Republicans who now can vote for something, just not anything like what was originally proposed.