I woke to the news on my clock radio that Nelson is threatening to tank it if he doesn't get his way on abortion. I found this link when I went looking:
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/Could-Ben-Nelson-Nix-Health-Care-Reform-1927Sen. Ben Nelson, the conservative Democrat from Nebraska, told reporters Tuesday that he may not support health care reform as it stands now. With one vote the difference between passing and failing--recall that earlier this week Democrats killed the public option to win Sen. Joe Lieberman's vote--could the loss of Nelson could be reform's death knell?
Replacing Nelson's Vote Washington Monthly's Steve Benen calls Nelson "the
caucus' most conservative member." Benen writes, "If Nelson backs the Republican filibuster, Democrats would need one GOP senator to break ranks in order to even have a vote on health care reform. <...> that leaves Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who has been talking to Reid, but who seems -- for unknown reasons -- to want to push off a vote until 2010. Snowe did, however, vote for the Finance Committee bill, and there's still reason to believe her vote is at least in play."
All About Abortion The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn writes, "On Capitol Hill, operatives and staff have said all along that Nelson, not Lieberman, would be the most difficult member of the caucus to win over. And his primary focus is abortion, although he has other concerns, as well." Cohn adds, "The great advantage of recruiting Snowe is that she supports abortion rights. Remember, she joined the majority of Democrats in voting against Nelson's amendment that would have introduced language prohibiting the coverage of abortion services within the new insurance exchanges. (Collins did, too.) That would actually produce a bill more liberal than the House alternative, at least on this one issue, with the differences to be settled in 
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