Bill Nelson: Reid will have to be Houdini to get 60 votes for public option

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will have to conjure up some magic to get 60 votes in the Senate for a health bill containing a public option, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said Tuesday.

Praising the Senate Finance Committee's work today to pass its own bill without a public option, Nelson said Reid would have to mirror famous magician Harry Houdini to include the provision in the legislation to hit the Senate floor.

Nelson said Democrats would look to include the public option in the health bill on the Senate floor, but suggested that move would set up a "cliffhanger" over votes.

"As you know, before we can ever get to a debate on the floor, we've got to get through the 60-vote threshold to shut off debate," he said during an appearance on Fox News. "And that's going to be a cliffhanger."

"The majority leader, Harry Reid, is going to have to be Houdini," Nelson added. "He's going to have to cobble the votes together."

Reid will be charged with merging the Finance committee's bill with the legislation to have been passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which does include the public option. Reid's decision whether or not to include the provision should be a subject of much wrangling in coming weeks, as Democrats weigh whether they can pass a bill including a public option with enough votes to survive a filibuster.

Nelson still praised the actions of the committee this afternoon, and said he believes President Barack Obama is "very, very pleased" with the bill the Finance committee had produced.