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ABC stuck to its guns and picked the Capitol Hill countdown to the vote on healthcare reform as its lead for the third straight day this week. This time ABC was not alone. All three newscasts selected the vote counting in the Democratic caucus of the House of Representatives. NBC and CBS led from Congress; ABC from the White House. So healthcare reform was the unanimous choice for Story of the Day.

The House may vote on amendments to the Senate bill at the same time as the underlying bill itself by deeming it passed instead of holding two separate votes. ABC's Jonathan Karl explained this convoluted procedure Tuesday, pulling out his copy of Volume VI of Deschler's Precedents. Now Sharyl Attkisson plays parliamentarian on CBS. She called the so-called self-executing rule a "controversial strategy to help give cover to those vulnerable Democrats facing tough elections… Democrats know that this could give the appearance of back room deals being used to push through something many Americans do not like but it may be the only way the President can get it passed."

NBC's Kelly O'Donnell used the Deem'n Pass nickname for the self-executing rule: "Republicans have also used the deem and pass rule when they were in charge but they argued that it was on things much smaller than healthcare reform." What about Barack Obama? Where does he stand on parliamentary procedure? CBS' Chip Reid (no link) used a soundbite from the President's "contentious" interview with Bret Baier on FOX News Channel in which he scrupulously observed the Constitutional separation of powers: "I do not spend a lot of time worrying what about the procedural rules are in the House or the Senate." ABC's Jake Tapper ran clips of Baier and Obama talking over one another. "You have got to let me finish my answers," the President insisted. Tapper called FNC Obama's "least favorite network."

CBS' Nancy Cordes patroled the corridors of Congress counting votes. She assumed that Speaker Nancy Pelosi could count on unanimous Republican opposition to the bill. That means that Pelosi can afford to allow 37 Democrats to defect and still reach the 216 votes she needs for passage. So far, Cordes counted 19 Noes and 48 undecideds: "One hot button issue that appears to be fading in importance is abortion. Today, two more anti-abortion rights members say that they are fine with the language in the Senate bill. They do not believe it provides federal funding for abortions."

All three newscasts told us about Dennis Kucinich, the fierce advocate of a Canadian-style single-payer system, who reversed his opposition and decided to back this insurance industry based bill. "Even though I do not like the bill, I have made a decision to--to support it," on CBS. "This is not the bill I wanted to support," on NBC. "I have decided to cast a vote in favor of the legislation," on ABC. Holding out pays its dividends in face time.

Andrew Tyndall 3/20/10 5:11:23 pm

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