They got Ben Nelson.

From Wash Post:

Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the final Democratic holdout on health care, announced to his colleagues Saturday morning that he would support the Senate reform bill, clearing the way for final passage by Christmas of President Obama’s top domestic policy priority.

Asked if he had secured the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) told reporters, “It seems that way.”

The Senate is expected to work its way through a series of procedural motions over the next few days, with a vote on the legislation scheduled the evening of Dec. 24th. A conference with the House to produce a final bill would likely extend into January, Senate aides said.

So how did they get him?

Well, he had initially objected on the abortion provisions that had been raised, but it looks like he secured some special favors for Nebraskans as well…

Under the new abortion provisions, states can opt out of allowing plans to cover abortion in the new insurance exchanges the bill would set up, to serve individuals who lack coverage through their jobs. Plus, enrollees in plans that do cover abortion procedures would pay for the coverage with separate checks — one for abortion, one for the rest of any health-care services.

Nelson secured full federal funding for his state to expand Medicaid coverage to all individuals below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Other states must pay a small portion of the additional cost. He won concessions for qualifying nonprofit insurers and for Medigap providers from a new insurance tax, and was able to roll back cuts to health savings accounts.

“I know this is hard for some of my colleagues to accept and I appreciate their right to disagree,” Nelson told reporters at the Capitol, of the many changes made at his behest. “But I would not have voted for this bill without these provisions.”

Are they cheering in Omaha tonight?

More as it develops…

Yesterday I talked about how it could happen.

Today it’s a reality.

From Omaha World-Herald:

The Democratic presidential candidate claimed an electoral vote in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District — the first time in more than four decades a Democrat won any of Nebraska’s electoral votes.

The Omaha World-Herald is calling the race after Obama won 8,434 out of 15,039 early votes that arrived too late to be included in Tuesday’s results. They were counted today by Douglas County election officials.

Those ballots give Obama a 1,260-vote lead over Republican John McCain in the 2nd District.

It also added one more electoral vote to Obama’s win over McCain in Tuesday’s election. The electoral count now stands: Obama, 365, McCain, 162.

Who would have thunk it?

So that makes 9 red states and 1 red district flipped from 2004 to 2008.

Missouri is the only state that hasn’t been called yet, and we may not know until next week because it’ll probably take a lot of time to count all of those absentee and provisional ballots. Still, with McCain up almost 6,000 votes right now, I think this one is close to being called for McCain.

More as it develops…

That’s right. Obama may actually win Omaha.

So if this happens, and you accept that Obama won North Carolina and Missouri will eventually go for McCain, then the electoral count will look like this…

Obama: 365
McCain: 173

More from Omaha World-Herald:

His odds of bagging an electoral vote in Nebraska grew stronger this morning, with word that 10,000 to 12,000 early ballots and 5,200 provisional ballots are left to count in Douglas County.

Obama won about 61 percent of the early votes counted before Tuesday’s election. If that percentage holds with the early ballots left to count, Obama stands a strong chance of winning the Omaha-area 2nd Congressional District.

Republicans did not concede defeat this morning, but they acknowledged the long odds. John McCain held a 569-vote lead over Obama in the 2nd District at the end of Tuesday.

Are the demographics of this country changing so significantly that Obama can win electoral votes in Omaha?

If so…the Republicans may be wandering in the desert a lot longer than they think.

Why is Lilibet Hagel’s endorsement important?

Well, Nebraska splits its electoral votes evenly among 5 different areas, and Obama’s campaign has made a very concerted effort to try and win the Omaha area and its 1 electoral vote. Why? To avoid a 269-269 tie scenario, which is actually possible this season.

Long story short, an endorsement from one of Nebraska’s “first ladies” could actually matter to moderate Republican and Independent women who are fence sitting right now.

Here’s more…

She said it will be her first endorsement of a Democrat and that perilous world conditions were a factor.

“The fact is we’re in two wars, two of the longest we’ve ever been in. We’ve run up a third of our nation’s debt in just the past eight years. We’re in the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression,” she said.

The Hagels know John and Cindy McCain, and she said her endorsement was not meant to slam them.

“This isn’t anti-McCain. This is pro-Obama. I’m just convinced he’s the right person,” she said.

And when asked if the Nebraska Senator be next, Lilibet answered, “You’d have to ask him.”

I’ll take that as a very strong maybe.

UPDATE:
A commenter writes…

Nebraska does not split its electoral vote evenly among 5 areas, it assigns 2 votes statewide and the other three by congressional district. As electoral votes are assigned on the basis of a state’s congressional delegation, this distribution is analogous to having the two statewide votes represent the state’s senators, etc.

Secondly, the idea that this one vote is a bulwark against a tied electoral college doesn’t stand. There is no realistic scenario in which Obama wins this district, but only 268 other electoral votes.

You’re right that I’m wrong about the electoral allocation, but the net effect is the same. And according to FiveThirtyEight.com, Obama is only 5 points behind McCain in the 2nd Congressional district.

Also, this district is a tie-breaker, not a tie-maker. That’s why I said, “to avoid a…”

Thanks for the correction.

CNN just called it and with nearly 70% of the vote there with nearly 3/4 reporting.

Big win, especially in a proportional battle.

With 35% reporting in Washington, Obama leads Hill 67% to 32%. It’s not very likely that Hillary will be able to close the gap enough for her to win.

With 73% reporting in Nebraska, Obama leads 69% to 31%. I think we can call that one for him now.

They’re all happening this weekend. Obama has visited all of these primary or caucus locales. Hillary has visited two. There are 161 delegates at stake.

What will happen? Here are some guesses…

Washington primary, 78 delegates:

Lay of the land: Obama is thought to have an advantage in the caucuses, which are dominated by party activists, especially in liberal Seattle. However, Washington has a strong history of electing women.

Both senators from the state are women and have endorsed Clinton. Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire has not yet made her pick but said she would before the caucuses. (Justin’s note: Gregoire has since endorsed Obama)

Louisiana primary, 56 delegates:

Lay of the land: A heavy turnout by black voters would benefit Obama. The state is close to one-third black and has only a small population of Hispanics, a group that has favored Clinton.

Nebraska caucuses, 24 delegates:

Lay of the land: The Clinton campaign claimed a strong grass-roots organization. Obama has been endorsed by state party leaders and lawmakers as well as by Sen. Ben Nelson, the only Democratic member of the state’s congressional delegation.

Maine caucuses, 24 delegates:

Lay of the land: Gov. John Baldacci is backing Clinton, and led several dozen state lawmakers in a rally for her Thursday. Obama swept up $400,000 in a visit to Portland in September, in one demonstration of his drawing power in the state, said Maine House Speaker Glenn Cummings, who backs him.

Virgin Islands caucuses, 3 delegates:

Lay of the land: In November, Obama attracted more than 100 supporters to a one-hour reception in St. Thomas that cost up to $2,300 to attend.

Conclusion: most think Obama has the advantage this weekend since Hillary hasn’t been too aggressive in these states.

I guess we’ll see.