Whatever the real story out of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office is on the public option, the Senate Finance Committee still has to vote on it, probably tomorrow (unless Baucus finds another way to delay). To recap, Senators Rockefeller and Schumer are presenting three public option amendments. The first is from Rockefeller, and it fairly closely follows the public option House version, which is stronger than the Senate HELP version. The other two are from Schumer, one that would add the same language as is in the HELP bill, and one that would create a "level playing field" option, the weakest of the three amendments.

Getting any of the three of these amendments out of the Finance Committee, but particularly either Rockefeller's or Schumer's first, is an uphill climb. But getting as much Dem support for any of them in this committee as possible is important. It will reinforce the message and the reality that the majority of Democrats--you know, the actual party that is in the majority in the Senate--support the public option, and that it needs to be in the bill the Senate sends to conference.

As I wrote on Friday, based on informed reporting from Jane, there are five Dem members to target specifically:

Max Baucus -- has said he supports a public plan, despite the fact that his bill doesn't contain one. Bill Nelson -- acknowledges that a public option would address lack of competition in the health care industry, but said he was against it, then he was "open" to it, and most recently says it must be subject to triggers. Bill Nelson -- says emerging public option is "attractive." Kent Conrad -- Has always said that "there aren't enough votes for a public option," but wouldn't say if he was one of them. Told Ezra Klein today he would only be open to one that wasn't tied to Medicare rates -- which Schumer's "level playing field" isn't. Blanche Lincoln -- said in July that a public insurance option should be included in any health care bill, but since then has changed her position like some people change their hair color. Tom Carper -- thinks the job of the Senate Finance Committee is to honor back room deals with PhRMA. Won't say how he feels about a public option. There are 13 Democrats and 10 Republicans on the committee, which means they can only lose two Democratic votes and still pass the amendment. So, in order for a public plan to come out of Finance, three of these are going to have to get off the fence.

And remember this, from Friday's post, too:

Contacting these, and all of the Dem members of the committee would be worth our while. It would help to remind them of a few factors: The CBO scoring of the House bill shows an additional $85 billion in savings over the Blue Dog/Energy & Commerce version: the public option will save money and bend that cost curve.

The public option remains popular with majorities of Americans.

The public option is popular with swing state voters.

In national polling, voters oppose a mandate to purchase private insurance by 64% to 34% but support a mandate with a choice of private or public insurance by 60% to 37%.

Contact info for all Dem Senators on Finance is below the fold. The focus should be on Baucus, Nelson, Conrad, Lincoln, and Carper. But if you live in any of the states represented by the Senators below, calls to them certainly won't hurt, as well as "thank you" calls to Rockefeller and Schumer.