Last week, in the hours after Obama announced his Wednesday health care speech, Pelosi, the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus issued a volley of statements and letters warning the president from throwing the option overboard in the name of deal-cutting.

Dozens of members from those groups have signaled their intention to vote against any bill without a public option — and the bill could, indeed, go down if a sizable proportion of them join the GOP and conservative Democrats in opposing the package.

“They’re for real this time,” said a Democratic senator, speaking on condition of anonymity.