Discuss as:  Moderates plot to stop bill with pub. opt.  From
NBC's Ken Strickland Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe and a
bipartisan group of centrist senators is poised to stop the
healthcare reform bill from even coming to the Senate floor if
it contains the public option. Because 60 votes will likely be
needed on a procedural vote that simply brings the bill to the
floor, defections from Snowe and other centrist Democrats raise
the stakes for Majority Leader Harry Reid.  Snowe and Democrat
Ben Nelson have been meeting with a handful of centrist for the
past couple of days. "We share similar positions on a number of
issues and frankly, overall, is not to rush this train out of
the station. I think that's the overriding issue."  (TV types
stop reading here; wonks keep reading)  The statements by Snowe
and Nelson today show that Senate procedure is just as important
as party politics for getting things done in a chamber that runs
on rules and 60 vote thresholds on controversial issues. To
better understand the i