But, more seriously, I think Mr. Ross' proposal was more in the vein of the Republican whose name I forget who, during the debate on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, succeeded in getting an amendment added to the bill which added "sex" as a ground upon which discrimination would no longer be allowed.  He did it in an attempt to make the Civil Rights Bill into such a joke - what 1960s male would think that women should not be discriminated against, given that their place was in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant, after all - that no one could be able to bring themselves to vote for it.

It's not clear how [Medicare for all] squares with his current position on Medicare and the House bill. Ross said that while he's suggested it as an alternative, he doesn't necessarily support it.

[ . . . ]

But regarding opening Medicare, he added this caveat: "Let me be clear: I do not endorse this idea, as it was just one of many ideas we, as legislators, have brought up and discussed in the numerous, ongoing negotiations and discussions we have had on healthcare reform over the past several months."

Politico runs a beat sweetener on Mike Ross today, positing him as a bravely bold centrist under fire from the liberals and conservatives (so he must be just right!), with an EXTREMELY buried lede. At the tail end of the article comes this nugget:

Whether or not any of the mud has stuck to him, Ross isn't taking any chances back home.

Ross, who got his start in politics as a personal driver for Bill Clinton during Clinton's 1982 Arkansas gubernatorial campaign, will bring his old friend and former boss to his campaign kickoff in the town of Hope.

OK, this says "campaign kickoff." I don't know if that means a fundraiser, a public event, or what, but regardless of the mechanism, this is a Bill Clinton endorsement of Mike Ross. The guy who has been out front among the Blue Dogs in opposing a public option and supporting worthless co-ops.