1/ A brief stroll down history’s lane, concerning Dem search for “bipartisan support” on tough measures.

Chap 1: Bill Clinton budget-and-tax bill 1993. Huge admin effort. Republicans who ultimately voted for it: Senate, 0. House, 0.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/08/06/house-passes-clinton-budget-plan-by-2-votes/7b4c10d6-5e84-49a9-a850-c06f04e54d43/ https://twitter.com/JakeSherman/status/1354774049856106500

Chap 2: Clinton era health care (Hillary-care”) effort.

https://ballotpedia.org/%22Hillarycare%22_(The_proposed_Health_Security_Act_of_1993)

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1995/01/a-triumph-of-misinformation/306231/

Chap 3: Obama post-financial-crash stimulus bill, its total constantly pared down to win bipartisan support.

GOP votes in the House: 0
GOP Senate: 3 (Collins, Snowe, future-Dem Arlen Specter) — along with 57 Dems, to make filibuster-proof 60. https://www.politico.com/story/2009/02/senate-passes-787-billion-stimulus-bill-018837

Chap 4: Obamacare.

Admin spent 2009-2010 looking for compromises, in plan w great similarities to RomneyCare in Mass.

Result:
Support by GOP in Senate: 0
By GOP House: 1 (who switched his vote from No after bill already had enough to pass.)

Chap 5:

Joe Biden and most of his team have lived through all of these episodes. 1 and 2 when Biden was an influential Senator, 3 and 4 when he was VP trying to wrangle GOP/moderate support.

Presumably they have some muscle-memory about how such sagas usually end. /end