Several weekends ago, everyone anxiously awaited Lincoln’s vote on the first major health care hurdle for the Senate — the procedural motion to move Majority Leader Harry Reid’s health-care bill to the Senate floor. With 59 votes securely lined up and 60 votes needed, all eyes were on Lincoln as she took to the Senate floor.

“I will vote for cloture on the motion to proceed on this bill,” declared Lincoln, who added, “I will not vote in favor of the proposal that has been introduced by Leader Reid.”

Later, it came out that the drama was all for show. Lincoln intended to vote for the bill all along. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., almost let the cat out of the bag to reporters the day before the vote. News came later that Lincoln confided to fellow holdout Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., on Friday evening that she would vote for the motion but that she wanted to the be the 60th vote.

Why would Lincoln want to be the last holdout before finally giving in? Was this all a carefully timed chess move meant to keep Lt. Gov. Bill Halter from jumping in the Democratic primary race for her Senate seat?

As Lincoln weighed her decision in Washington, Halter was greeting needy Arkansans in Little Rock at a free health clinic while rumors of his Senate candidacy swirled.

By making a deliberate point of being the deciding vote, she took away Halter’s excuse to jump in … at least for now.