Did Sen. Reid cut a deal for himself?

There are three ways to explain Sen. Harry Reid’s big end-of-the-year gamble with health care "reform".

A. He honestly believes in health care "reform" and decided to risk his entire political career to get it on.

B. He calculates that he’s in so much trouble with Nevada voters that he needed a big piece of legislation to turn things around.

C. He knows he’s toast come November. Unpopular on his own, taking the point to forge a coalition of the bribed to get health care "reform" passed potentially sealed his fate. So, he cut a deal with Obama for a golden parachute in the event he's spurned by voters.

No one I know believes in scenario "A". First, to get a bill passed, Reid stretched his conscience on abortion. And second, so far as I can recall, health care "reform" is a relatively new-found passion for Sen. Reid.

It’s hard to envision scenario "B" being viable. Polls showed Nevadans heartily disliked Reid’s approach to health care "reform". To think that this issue would carry the day in November just doesn’t ring true.

Scenario "C" make sense. You're going out anyway, why not cut a deal to soften the landing?

Reid could no doubt fill any number of important jobs in the Obama Administration (Interior Secretary?). Or, he could take the route that former Sen. Tom Daschle, his predecessor, took. With a promise of special access to the White House, he could command a very lucrative lobbying deal in Washington, D.C.

Who knows? All we can really say is that as the decade closes Nevada's most powerful politician remains vexed by great unpopularity at home, with time ticking on his re-election.

It will be one of the bigger national political stories of 2010.