One thing to remember about Lieberman is that he supports the core elements of the bill. The obvious play for Reid would be to give Lieberman what he wants (stripping out the public option and the Medicare buy-in) and to give Ben Nelson what he wants on abortion, and get their votes. The Left is very likely to accept what is a less-than-perfect deal from its perspective, despite all the angry denunciations. The problem for Reid is that there are probably other shaky votes out there — Webb? — who aren’t willing to be as public as Lieberman and Nelson. But if they see that Lieberman and Nelson get results by complaining, they’ll complain too and features more central to the bill — the tax hikes and Medicare cuts — could come under threat. The upshot is that the bill is not necessarily doomed, but it’s still in a very fragile state. We’ll know more after the Senate Democrats meet at 5:30 p.m. If they come out saying they’re still talking, we know they’re not there yet. If Reid comes out saying he’s going to file cloture, that’s another matter.