Among those vying for time with POTUS on the flight from DC to Jacksonville, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson. The plane just landed and Nelson, followed by Reps. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, and Ander Crenshaw, R-Jacksonville, followed Obama during the steps.
The Associated Press reports that Nelson talked health care reform with reporters aboard Air Force One to Florida, saying that "he thinks it will be hard for (Senate Majority Leader Harry) Reid to muster 60 votes for a public option plan in which states can opt out. He said at least four key senators seem opposed.
"If an opt-out plan can pass, he said, he hopes states would not be able to exercise the opt-out for at least two years. Otherwise, Nelson said, the powerful insurance lobby 'will convince state legislatures to opt out at the very beginning,' before a public option plan has had a chance to prove its worth."
Nelson is expected at tonight's fundraiser on Miami Beach with Obama. One of the hosts, New Jersey Dem. Sen. Bob Menendez, won't make the fundraiser — his mother passed away over the weekend.
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