UPDATED: The Final Five | The New Republic

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by Jonathan Cohn

Sometime soon, maybe this week,* the Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote on the health care reform bill it spent the last two weeks debating. Inside and outside the committee, people following this process more closely than I am say the bill is likely to pass. But it's not yet a sure thing.

The committee roster is thirteen Democrats, ten Republicans. Majority vote rules. Chairman Max Baucus can afford to lose one Democrat, even if all of the committee Republicans vote against it. But if he loses two, then he needs to pick up at least one Republican.

What follows is a run-down of the five senators whose votes remain in question, based on conversations with sources over the weekend.
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