For example, there was a lot of talk earlier this year that one of the offsets for healthcare reform would be a new tax on soda. But months later, that proposal has been effectively discarded.

{mosads}The public option was also on life support after the House Energy and Commerce Committee struggled to pass a public option bill before the August recess. After the panel barely approved its measure and Congress adjourned, many constituents at town hall meetings expressed anger on the direction of healthcare reform.

President Barack Obama, wanting a bill more than a public option, backed off his insistence on allowing the government to administer the proposed healthcare benefits. At one point, he called the public option “one sliver” of the healthcare debate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) subsequently embraced the idea of nonprofit co-ops, which was seen as another blow to the public option.

And as Democratic centrists were balking in the House and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) was moving forward on a bill without a public option, there was a sense on Capitol Hill that the public option was going the way of the soda tax: dead and buried.

But Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) never wavered, and it paid off. Reid has since shifted, sending legislation to the Congressional Budget Office that includes a state “opt-out” public option.

The California Democrat repeatedly insisted on a public option, and pushed for a so-called “robust” public option that House liberals had endorsed.

Yet Pelosi and her lieutenants found that there weren’t 218 votes for a robust public option. After noting that to her more liberal members, she moved forward with a more centrist public option.

Some of the centrist Democrats were pleased that Pelosi had given ground. And despite their threats of voting no, liberals were pleased that a public option got into the final bill, which passed 220-215 on Saturday night.

Pelosi now has to deal with abortion-rights lawmakers who are angry that she allowed a vote on the abortion-related amendment offered by Reps. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and Joe Pitts (R-Pa.). By the slim margin of the vote this weekend, it is clear that Pelosi — a strong proponent of abortion rights — had little choice.

The Speaker knows she will have to compromise more in discussions with the Senate, when and if the upper chamber passes a comprehensive bill. Her goal was to put a strong marker down so she would have a strong hand going into those talks.

Pelosi didn’t get everything she wanted. But she got what she most wanted: a bill with a public option with enough support to pass the lower chamber.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Budget Committee chairmen usually attract a lot of attention early in the year, and then fade into the background as the year progresses. When the White House releases its new budget, the spotlight gets turned back on.

{mosads}But Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) is the exception to the rule.

As a member of the Finance Committee, Conrad has been a force on healthcare reform and is expected to be a major player as the upper chamber starts floor debate on the contentious issue.

Conrad was a member of the “Gang of Six” discussions that were led by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.). (He also was a member of the Senate gang that worked on energy issues last year.)

Conrad has long been pushing for a bipartisan fiscal commission to make recommendations on runaway entitlement spending. Other proponents include Senate Budget Committee ranking member Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Reps. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) and Frank Wolf (R-Va.).

Some want the commission to propose findings on how to curb spending and have Congress vote up-or-down on these recommendations.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) does not support the legislation, preferring to allow panel chairmen to deal with the dire financial future of Medicare and Social Security.

Amid the healthcare debate, Conrad has scheduled a hearing on the legislation. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio) are scheduled to testify as well as Cooper and Wolf. Former Government Accountability Office chief David Walker is also on the witness list.

Don’t be surprised if this bill gains traction as Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) works to cobble together 60 votes on healthcare reform. Conrad, who is not a fan of the public option, may insist on it.