The Shape of the Negotiating Table

Via TPM:

By the time you clear away the hedg­ing, the throat-​​clearing, and the self-​​serving ratio­nal­iza­tions, it looks like a new state­ment just issued by Sen. Ben Nel­son sig­nals that he will vote with Democ­rats to bring the health care reform bill to the Senate floor.

If this were inter­na­tional diplo­macy, you might say Nel­son has finally agreed to the shape and size of the table at which the peace talks will be held. Bold move.

And yet, the shape of the nego­ti­at­ing table is a ratio­nal and impor­tant step toward actu­ally get­ting some­thing done.