Patrick Ruffini points to this helpful history of the ‘public option:’

One key player was Roger Hickey of the Campaign for America’s Future. Hickey took UC Berkley health care expert Jacob Hacker’s idea for “a new public insurance pool modeled after Medicare” and went around to the community of single-payer advocates, making the case that this limited “public option” was the best they could hope for. Ideally, it would someday magically turn into single-payer. And then Hickey went to all the presidential candidates, acknowledging that politically, they couldn’t support single-payer, but that the “public option” would attract a real progressive constituency. Here’s Hickey from a speech to New Jersey Citizen Action in November 2007:

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You may remember from Sunday about how the Democrats were quietly planning to remove a somewhat… inconvenient… US Attorney from his position before he was through investigating a former North Carolina Democratic governor. Now, via Geraghty, via Kaus, we find out that nothing of the sort is going to happen.

Now.

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan said today that the U.S. Attorney in Raleigh, George Holding, should stay on the job as top federal prosecutor until investigations of former Sen. John Edwards and former Gov. Mike Easley are completed.

Hagan said she has consulted with the White House on the process for replacing Holding — the decision on a replacement is ultimately up to President Barack Obama — and said it will go much slower.

“I don’t feel it’s in North Carolina’s best interest to replace someone who is investigating these two very high profile people,” said Hagan, a Democrat who plays a key role in the process because any replacement requires Senate confirmation. “I just think that with investigations going on, he ought to have the opportunity to complete the investigations.”

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m happy to hear that neither the President nor Senator Hagan had any intention of shutting down a corruption investigation for crass political reasons. That’s such a relief, really. And I’m sure that the fact that this was announced mere days after the rather pointed article in the local paper that brought this up got national attention had nothing to do with the switch in focus. Of course not. Complete coincidence. Although I am curious: why did this Locke Clifford fellow leave the Governor’s replacement screening panel Tuesday? And why was he at former governor Easley’s house on the same day?

Golf game, perhaps?

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

How so very… dramatic:

Edwards Staff Had Affair ‘Doomsday’ Strategy

…Up until December of 2007, most on Edwards’ staff didn’t believe rumors about the affair.

But by late December, early January of last year, several people in his inner circle began to think the rumors were true.

Several of them had gotten together and devised a “doomsday” strategy of sorts.

Basically, if it looked like Edwards was going to win the Democratic Party nomination, they were going to sabotage his campaign, several former Edwards’ staffers have told me.

See also The Daily Beast. I don’t know what’s funnier: that they had a ‘doomsday strategy’, or that there was actually anybody left by January 2008 that honestly thought that Edwards had a shot at winning the Democratic nomination. Besides, why go through anything convoluted? If they really wanted to torpedo their candidate thoroughly, all they had to do was rehire Amanda Marcotte.

Moe Lane

*Classical reference. The book wasn’t bad, either.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Reille Hunter’s baby turned one year old last week, and of course conventional wisdom holds that she is the daughter of former NC Senator and Democrat candidate for President, John Edwards. John’s wife, Elizabeth, has written a book, which one can only guess will be a tell-all sell-out. The book is called ““Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life’s Adversities,” and is reportedly a self-help book but … come on. You know the affair is going in that book. Life’s adversities? Yes, there is facing cancer, and God Bless her for surviving. But there are other adversities in one’s world, and relationship problems of this magnitude played out in public cannot possibly be left out of a book which uses personal anecdote to speak about the tribulations we all go through. Not and still be taken seriously. Sooner or later, we are all going to know who is the daddy of the sweet little girl who has no father listed on her birth certificate.

Speaking of the child, Fox News has obtained a photo from the birthday party. I know, you are expecting a joke about her hair being perfectly coifed no doubt. Or big southern ambulance chaser grin. But look, I’m not going to do that. It’s just too easy. The fact is, if you look at the picture, there really is an uncanny resemblance. It just leaves you no room to joke around. He’s going to have to fess up, I think. The resemblance is unmistakeable. Click through for the full size photo (thumbnail does no justice)

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