Jim Oberstar the "pro-life, Blue Dog" Democrat from northern Minnesota's 8th Congressional District has announced his intentions to be Speaker Pelosi's lap puppy and vote for the Senate Health Care bill.

Congress will pass a health-care bill in the next two weeks, U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar's predicted Saturday.

And that Senate health-care bill headed for a House vote will likely get his vote, after all.

''I'm prepared to vote for a health-care bill," Oberstar told the News Tribune. "I just want to see all the pieces come together."

But before all you over-sensitive anti choicers get your undies in a bundle, realize that Rep. Oberstar is looking at the big picture - something you single issue voters don't seem to get...

But Oberstar told the News Tribune that no one single issue, like abortion, would cause him to vote against the health-care bill.

''Absolutist positions on one issue are not useful," he said, noting that discussions are still under way on adjusting the abortion language in the final bill that will follow the House passage of the Senate bill.

And the good representative is correct.  We should not be looking at any SINGLE issue, but rather (as my friend Gary Gross mentioned in a phone call) we should look at things like the abortion funding AND the trillions this bill will add to the LONG TERM budget deficit AND the unConstitutional individual mandates AND the Cornhusker Kickback AND the Louisiana Purchase (after all if bringing home the back is so desirable and admirable why is Rep. Oberstar not holding his vote until his palm gets appropriately greased?) AND the layers of bureaucracy that will be put in charge of your health care decisions AND the idea that the government is setting itself up to take over 1/6th of the US Economy.  It should be about the additional costs that your vote will saddled your constituents (mostly family farmers and workers in an already dying taconite industry) with.  Aren't those things important Representative "Fiscally Conservative Blue Dog" Oberstar?

It is also important to note that Rep. Oberstar threw this out AFTER it was too late for any potential challengers to come up in the caucus and convention circuit.  While potential candidates have until July 20th to file with the state, most of the congressional district conventions have already been held or are soon to be held (the 8th CD's GOP Convention is April 10).  Any potential candidate is going to have to get organized FAST if they want to stand a shot at mounting an effective challenge to Rep. Oberstar now that he has been "leashed".