Two months ago, the public option for insurance coverage was being read its last rites. On Monday, it was alive and well after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that he would include the provision as part of a broader health care bill.

The announcement was a dramatic triumph for the progressive community, which had howled and hissed for months as the prospects for a government-run plan dimmed. But the story behind Reid's decision has more to do with backroom negotiations behind a hastily proposed idea than with a change in political temperament.

The compromise proposal that turned out to be the senator's solution for the public option impasse -- allowing states to opt-out of the system -- first came to his attention only three weeks ago, an aide confirmed....