The Baucus bill passed the Finance Committee with a 14-9 vote, giving the Democratic health care agenda new momentum, but it's become clear that President Obama's attempt to corral bi-partisanship in the Senate Finance committee is ending in a messy stand-off. Although the vote was an essential win for Democrats, it has created a backlash from liberals for the concessions it has allowed to members of a more centrist Senate Finance Committee. After allowing Obama a generous amount of time to start the healthcare conversation, House Democrats are beginning to take a more aggressive position on issues such as the public option.

“Die Quickly!” became a buzz-phrase on news networks, as Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) gave a rhetoric-filled monologue in Congress last week. He chided that this was a key component of the Republican health care reform plan, criticizing a lack of Republican ideas and participation. The backlash from the Right was vehement as House Republicans threatened a formal rebuke of Grayson if he refused to apologize, just as Democrats passed a formal rebuke on Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) last month for yelling,“You Lie!” during President Obama's most recent address to Congress concerning healthcare. The bold speech seems to have worked in Grayson's favor as he received applaud from liberal media outlets and constituents. Despite previously being relatively unknown, Grayson and Wilson have received considerable attention for aligning themselves on opposite poles of the debate. As Republican opposition remains polarized in both houses of Congress, Democrats seem to be setting themselves up to pass a bill through reconciliation.

Although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has generally deferred to President Obama before taking positions on particular aspects of the bill, she came out last week with a statement saying any bill that comes out of the House will definitely include a public option. President Obama has been careful to deflect questions over the public option despite stating during the campaign that this was an essential aspect of any health care bill. Given the lack of a public option in any of the proposed Senate bills, Pelosi is best positioned to advocate for a public option on behalf of Obama.

President Obama started his healthcare strategy by targeting conservative Democrats and Republicans in order to prevent a filibuster, but the past weeks events are setting the scene for reconciliation. Although a disproportionate amount of attention is being paid to those like Grayson and Wilson spouting partisan rhetoric, now that the bills are moving past committees, focus will return to the conservative members of Congress that will tip the scale on the final votes. In the coming weeks, House Democrats should keep applying pressure to prevent their agenda from becoming diluted by a minority of conservative members.