Obama To Meet With Lincoln

So reports TPMDC's Christina Bellantoni: President Obama will meet with Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) in the Oval Office this evening at 5:15, as voters are casting ballots in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York, presumably to talk about health care. Lincoln is one of the Senate's cluster of centrist Democrats, who are thus far still considered swing votes on health reform, though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) plan for a compromise public option--one that lets states opt out of the program--seems to be gaining momentum (Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who is perhaps the toughest sell the public option besides Joe Lieberman, indicated in an interview with MSNBC on Friday that he thought Reid's opt-out plan could pass).

Lincoln is also one of two centrist Democrats up for reelection in 2010, along with Sen. Evan Bayh (IN), who has also met with the president. Polls commissioned by a progressive campaign group, the Progressive Campaign Change Committee, show both Lincoln and Bayh facing a drop in support if they vote against a public option.