For the past two weeks all eyes have been on Bart Stupak the man who is leading the Democrats objecting to the health care bill based on the abortion issue. Stupak and is group may be the key to whether or not Americans are burdened with a government takeover of 17% of the economy that they very much object to. The status of Stupak's negotiations are updated in the press on an almost hourly basis.

Today there was a piece of news that the cynic in me says could very well be an act of White House pressure on Mr. Stupak and his pro-life coalition.

Connie Saltonstall of Charlevoix said today she plans to run against Stupak for the Democratic nomination of Michigan’s First Congressional District, citing Stupak’s efforts to stop health care reform if it doesn’t ban use of government money for abortions. Stupak, a former state trooper from Menominee, has held the seat since 1993.

This year and last, Stupak has made a name for himself as a thorn in the side of some congressional Democrats pushing legislation for health care reform. While largely supportive of those efforts, he successfully attached an amendment last fall to ban use of federal funds to help pay for abortions.

“I believe that he has a right to his personal, religious views, but to deprive his constituents of needed health care reform because of those views is reprehensible,” Saltonstall said in a statement.

A Catholic, Stupak authored an amendment that passed the House of Representatives in November that prohibited federal subsidies going to any plan participating on national insurance exchange that provided abortion coverage. Federal subsidies are seen as a way to help people without coverage through their employers get it at a competitive rate…