Snowe On Health Bill: Will She Vote For It?

Just about everybody, including us, is pretty sure the Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee will all vote to move along the health bill championed by Chairman Max Baucus. That should get the procedural job done.

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Sen. Max Baucus talks health care with Sen. Olympia Snowe.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Sen. Max Baucus talks health care with Sen. Olympia Snowe.

But what about the fig leaf of bipartisanship? Baucus labored long and hard to get at least one Republican on board. His last shot is Maine's Olympia Snowe.

She's sympathetic to Baucus's aim to extend health care to the uninsured. Bloomberg weighs in with a profile of Snowe, orphaned at 9 and long known for her independent streak.

If Snowe votes for the bill, it would make it easier for conservative Democrats and maybe another Republican or two to support overhaul on the Senate floor. Bucking the Republican line, however, could cost her. The Hill reports the GOP could pass over Snowe for ranking member on the Senate's Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee—a job coming open with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison running for governor in Texas. "A vote for healthcare would be something that would weigh on our minds when it came time to vote," an unnamed Republican told the Hill.