It seems that Democrats are almost ready to temporarily give up the fight on SCHIP:

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has given congressional negotiators until the end of this week to reach an agreement on legislation that would reauthorize and expand SCHIP, a House Democratic aide said Tuesday, CQ Today reports. If an agreement cannot be reached, Democrats will work to pass a long-term extension of the program that includes additional funds for states that are facing budgetary shortfalls for their programs, according to the aide. The extension would last until next fall."

Of course, this means that the battle is not won, merely delayed. And if a Democrat is elected President, we can be assured that an even larger SCHIP reauthorization bill will become law. But at least there is a measure of victory here. Now the battle returns to state efforts to expand their children's health insurance programs.