Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand long has called on Congress to provide paid family and medical leave to the millions of Americans who don’t have it. So when she found out last week the plan had been dropped from her party’s landmark spending bill, she began an eleventh-hour campaign to try to resurrect it.

The New York Democrat targeted the chief objector to the program, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.). She hit the phones Friday and fired off a flurry of texts to her moderate-leaning colleague that continued into the weekend, saying she would be even willing to “meet him in D.C. or anywhere in the country” to make the case for the benefits, she said in an interview…

A day earlier, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) hammered Manchin indirectly, stressing that Democrats are “not going to let one man tell all the women in this country that they can’t have paid leave.” And a wide array of lawmakers, including Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), have placed calls to Manchin directly about the issue, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.

“I do believe this is a unique moment in time,” said Gillibrand, who spoke by phone late Friday, as she acknowledged that time is running out. “If I can get more time with him, I’m optimistic I can find the right form.”