The state of the debate over health care reform is unclear following Saturday night's close Senate vote.

The future of the public option in any health care reform bill remains as a central question for progressives and for hometown public debate, even with the advent of the Thanksgiving holidays.  Senate floor debate resumes after the recess this week. 

Where senators stand -- Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark) supports the public option, according to Matt Yglesias.  Several conservative Democrats voted to bring the bill to the floor but would not vote for the bill in its present form, Reuters reports.  We learned from The Hill today that, "Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont says that there are many Democratic senators who would vote against a Senate bill lacking a strong public option."  Senate Whip, Dick Durbin (D-Ill) says he is open to changing the public option in order to pass the bill.  Colorado's Freshman Democratic Senator Michael Bennet has said that he is willing to lose his seat for his support of passage of the bill.

The White House and Democratic leaders will also be focusing on winning support for the bill from certain key Republicans, reports Carl Hulse in the Sunday New York Times.  As you might guess, the targets are the two senators from Maine, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe.

The immediate benefits of the law are not widely known; 14 provisions actually would kick in immediately upon passage.  Hat tip to "blackwaterdog" at Daily Kos for this good summary.  Despite that fact, according to the most recent Rasmussen poll, support for the Democrats' Health Care plan has fallen to a new low, 38% in favor.

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