Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and the Blue Dogs are getting a clue?

Ryan Grim on Huffington Post:
Blue Dog Opposition To Public Option Fades In Whip Count

Blocking a public health insurance option is a relatively low priority for conservative Blue Dog Democrats, according to an ongoing survey of its members. The fading House opposition could clear the way for the public option to move through the chamber.

The Blue Dogs have been surveying their membership over the last several days; coalition co-chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.) has been collecting the responses. She listed the four top priorities that have emerged: Keeping the cost under $900 billion, not moving at a faster pace than the Senate, getting a 20-year cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office and addressing regional disparities in Medicare reimbursement rates.

So, the Huffington Post asked, the public option is not a top priority?

"Right, the group is somewhat split," she said.

My favorite quotable from the excellent Mr. Grim:

Blue Dogs and others representing low-competition areas see the disparity as unjust and want the rates increased. The push for more government spending goes against their core priority of fiscal discipline, but Blue Dogs have never been known for their ideological coherence.

I agree: it's very true ideological coherence is not the forte of either conservaDems or "out" Republicans. However, they do tend to excel in cognitive dissonance!