UPDATE: This is old news. Sorry.

Last week, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders indicated he would offer an amendment to include the public option in the reconciliation "sidecar" bill the House is preparing for the Senate. This was, of course, in defiance of the Senate leadership who are looking for a unified block of Dems to vote against any and all amendments to grease the bill’s passage. Senator Durbin has famously said he will whip against any such amendment.

But from the tone and content of the press release out of his office this afternoon, it sounds likely that Sanders is preparing supporters for a retreat from that promise:

WASHINGTON, March 19 – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) today told Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) that he would work to ensure a Senate vote “in the coming months” on a health insurance public option.

In a letter to Sanders and Merkley the majority leader said: “I am a strong supporter of a public option, and I included the HELP Committee’s public option in the bill I brought to the Senate floor last year. I was very disappointed when it became clear that we did not have the votes to keep it.

“Nevertheless, like you, I remain committed to pursuing the public option. . . As we have discussed, I will work to ensure that we are able to vote on the pubic option in the coming months.”

Sanders said: “I very much appreciate Majority Leader Reid’s continuing support for a public option and I am grateful for his commitment to bring legislation before the full Senate within the next several months. It’s imperative that we have a vote on this issue and I’m glad that is going to happen.

“We need to add the public option to health care reform because the American people must have the right to choose a Medicare-type public option as opposed to just private insurance company plans. Further, a public option will provide much needed competition to the insurance industry and help us hold down skyrocketing premiums. It is my judgment that a majority of members in the House and Senate would support a public option when it comes up for a vote.”

It’s really hard to look at this – particularly that last paragraph – and not draw the conclusion that he’s getting ready to cave. It’s deeply unconvincing, however, to set that stage by using more pro-public option rhetoric from Harry Reid as a cover, given how empty that rhetoric has been proven time and again to be.