Following up on last week's stories about Blue Dog opposition to the public option fading, the popularity of the public option in Blue Dog districts and the CBO scoring that showed the progressive public option bill would save $85 billion over the Blue Dog preferred bill, Jane has the reminder that 25 Blue Dogs have already said they'll support a public option.

The list was primarily culled from the 20 Blue Dogs who signed on to the HCAN statement of principles, which endorses "a public insurance plan without a private insurer middleman that guarantees affordable coverage." It also advocated "using the public’s purchasing power to instill greater reliance on evidence-based protocols and lower drug and device prices" -- the very opposite of co-ops.

I also included those who signed the July 22 letter to Steny Hoyer stressing the importance of having a strong public option, one that is tied to "an established provider network, like Medicare" (PDF). I added those who voted for H.R. 3200 already as a member of one of the three committees that drafted it, and those who have made statements of support in the media for a public option.