The Senate Finance Committee is voting today and everyone is focusing on Republican Senator, Olympia Snowe. Will she vote for the bill now or wait to make a decision till a final bill reaches for the Senate floor?  The final bill will be a compromise between many bills passed in the Senate.

Snowe may care about getting plum Senate Committee assignments etc but assume she wants to influence the final bill as much as possible.  For example, Snowe does not favor the public option but the “trigger” where a public health plan will kick in if insurance companies raise premiums.

If Snowe does not vote for the bill now, the Democrats will interpret her strategy as the Grassley strategy of delaying and wearing the opposition down.  This will lead to a more left-wing bill in the final compromise solution as they will not care about keeping her on board.  If she votes for it now, the Democrats will want to be careful not to alienate her in the final bill.

Not voting for the Senate Finance Bill, hoping to have more influence on the final product, will actually reduce her influence as Democrats will infer that Snowe acted in bad faith over the last few months.  Snowe will have more influence by voting for Senate Finance Bill.  Let’s see what happens….