LIANE HANSEN, host:
Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson was the last Democrat to support the health care bill that the Senate passed on Christmas Eve. But his support came with significant concessions, including special benefits for his state.
As Fred Knapp of NET Radio reports, Nelson's actions are getting mixed reviews back home.
FRED KNAPP: Until recently, it's likely many Americans didn't know who Ben Nelson was. As the only statewide-elected Democrat in heavily Republican Nebraska, Nelson has walked a political tightrope. Now in his second term, the Senator voted with his own party just over half the time during the Bush administration, according to Congressional Quarterly.
On health care, he opposed a public option and federal funding for abortion, and before he supported the bill he negotiated a provision that would, in effect, have federal taxpayers pay Nebraska's share of Medicaid expansion, by some estimates, $15 million a year.
Now, you might think Nebraskans would be pleased and some, like Eric Ziegler(ph), are. Speaking in Omaha's red brick Old Market area, the music store manager says he's glad Nelson ultimately sided with his fellow Democrats.
Mr. ERIC ZIEGLER: It sounded like he got a little bit for Nebraska that no other state got. That, you know, was kind of a little sly dealing, I guess, maybe. But, you know, good one for Ben, I guess, you know, and for Nebraska, too, I think.
KNAPP: But that's hardly the typical reaction here. On a cold winter morning outside the main post office in Lincoln, questions about Nelson - who's previously drawn substantial Republican support - produce a blast of political heat.
Mr. JOHN SEDLOCK(ph): Nelson sold out. I mean, you know, he lost most of his honor, as far as I'm concerned. I don't see where the rest of the country should finance our welfare system.
Mr. ROB GRIER(ph): I think he was a total sellout, but it was to be expected.
Ms. COLLEEN MASER(ph): I think he copped out. I mean, basically that's what I think he did, because he was being pushed.
KNAPP: Those views of John Sedlock, Rob Grier, and Colleen Maser are reflected more broadly in a recent Rasmussen poll, which found only 17 percent here approve of the deal Nelson struck with Senate leaders. Even some who admire his negotiating skills don't like the result.
Don Lawyer(ph) lives in Lincoln.
Mr. DON LAWYER: It's nice that he spoke out for us, but we got something that nobody else got, and I don't think it's right.
KNAPP: Senator Nelson insists he was simply trying to avoid an unfunded federal mandate and says other states can seek similar treatment.
But the deal has been criticized by the other members of the state's congressional delegation and Republican Governor Dave Heineman. Nebraska's Republican Party chairman boasts that he thinks it will end Nelson's political career. And the state's largest newspaper ran a cartoon showing a disgruntled corn husker waiting in a department store line to exchange a cardboard cutout of the senator. Still, Ben Nelson says he's not worried.
Senator BEN NELSON (Democrat, Nebraska): I've never focused on my political future in advance. I never have and I don't intend to. I'll let others speculate on that, but neither the chairman of the Republican Party nor any newspaper is going to write my political epitaph.
KNAPP: But it appears he's taking no chances. Although he's not up for reelection for three years, Nelson has already begun running television ads defending his vote.
For NPR News, I'm Fred Knapp in Lincoln, Nebraska.