And I mean a thud.

It almost seemed like Baucus was hung out to dry by the White House and fellow Democrats, as he trotted out what he felt were the best options from months of behind the scenes negotiations among six Senators.

He was all by himself, as no one else from that group appeared with him at a news conference, even to offer moral support.

Even the White House had a hard time acting like there was some excitement about the effort.

"The President likes the fact that the process is moving forward," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who tried his best to fend off reporters who instinctively knew that he wasn't going to say much positive about the plan at a briefing.

Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO gave the bill a thumbs down. A liberal health reform group expressed its dismay with the proposal.

And then some Democrats who are on Baucus' Senate Finance Committee simply said they would have to vote against it right now.

"The proposed co-op model is untested and unsubstantiated - and should not be considered as a national model for health insurance," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV).

Rockefeller hit on one of many issues that Democrats didn't like about the Baucus bill, as more liberal lawmakers say the lack of a public health insurance option is unacceptable.

Over in the House, a group of more liberal Democrats pronounced the Baucus bill "Dead on Arrival."

And these are people in the same party.

It was another reminder that efforts at compromise among Democrats have not been easy and will not be easy in the weeks ahead.

Democrats probably wish that Baucus had put out this proposal several months ago, because they could have moved on and basically ignored it.

Instead, Baucus was able to keep himself at the negotiating table and keep Democratic Leaders and the President at bay.

If the Baucus health reform plan is a "compromise," it may be that it's a compromise with himself.