Rockefeller: Dems have 'let loose' against Baucus

Democrats "let loose" against fellow Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) during recent caucus meetings on healthcare reform, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said Friday.

Rockefeller told the Washington Post's Ezra Klein that there's been a "very hot discussion" within Senate Democrats about the health reform bill proposed by Baucus as part of the Senate Finance Committee's effort to win bipartisan support for reform.

"There's very hot discussion," he said. "At the second-to-last meeting with Baucus, Democrats really let loose at Baucus."

"When you're getting close to the time you need to vote, public policy takes on a new type of intensity," Rockefeller added.

The West Virginia Democrat has emerged as one of the leading advocates for the public (or "government-run") option in health insurance form in the Senate. Baucus's proposal abandons that public plan in favor of nonprofit health cooperatives, in search of backing from centrist Democrats and some Republicans.

Rockefeller maintained that he's still very optimistic that health reform can be achieved this year despite the intra-party splintering.