At least two federal lawmakers from the Twin States are taking a strong stand on a public option, saying a government-run health insurance alternative should be part of health-care reform, even amid signals that the Obama administration is willing to sacrifice the measure.

“I think a public option is a very critical part of health care reform, and it's hard for me to see how it's going to pass in the House without it,” U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, a Hartland Democrat, said in an interview Tuesday.

Welch, who sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and helped craft that committee's bill, said the three key components of health care reform are cost containment through the public option; extending coverage to at least 37 million uninsured Americans; and tighter regulation of insurance companies to require coverage of pre-existing conditions.

“If you drop any one of them, I think it would be a setback to health care reform,” Welch said.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, also said a public option is critical.

“Clearly we need health care reform, and one of the important aspects of health care reform has got to be a public option,” Sanders said on MSNBC yesterday. “The only way you are going to get cost containment, the only way we are going to prevent health care costs from doubling in the next eight years ... is to have a public option. This is not some esoteric idea.”

Rep. Paul Hodes, the Concord Democrat who is running for U.S. Senate, earlier this month said a public option is “an essential component of reform.”

But Hodes, like many of his Democratic colleagues, now appears to be keeping his options open. Spokesman Mark Bergman said Hodes remains a “strong supporter” of a public option.

But, Bergman added, “It is still very early in the legislative process with a lot of moving pieces. He is looking forward to continuing to hear from all sides on this important issue.”

Similarly, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., also has supported a public option, but won't be pinned down on whether a bill without it is a deal-breaker for her.

“This fall, the Senate will produce a health insurance reform bill that will then be debated and amended. Until that process starts, it's premature to speculate how she may vote,” said Shaheen spokeswoman Colleen Murray.

Anthony Pollina, the former Vermont Progressive Party gubernatorial candidate and, like Sanders, a strong supporter of a single-payer system, had a blunter assessment of the dealings in Washington.

“The public option was the only even slight indication of reform in that bill, and without that public option, to call it ‘health care reform' is a sham,” Pollina said.

U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, the New Hampshire Republican and lone Twin State federal lawmaker opposed to a federal option, will hold public forums on health care today in Salem and Portsmouth.

Sanders is continuing his town meetings with an appearance in Peacham, Vt., on Sunday; there's a free dinner at 5:30 p.m., followed by the meeting at 6 p.m. at Peacham Congregational Church.

Grafton County officials are collecting resumes for potential replacements for County Attorney Rick St. Hilaire, who announced last week that he'll resign at the end of September to go into private law practice with his brother.

St. Hilaire, a Republican, has recommended that his deputy, Lara Saffo, who lives in northern Grafton County, be picked to succeed him.

The choice is up to the Grafton County delegation, controlled by Democrats, who will meet Aug. 31 to interview applicants.

State Rep. Catherine Mulholland, chairwoman of the county delegation, said yesterday that competency, not party affiliation, was the most important factor.

“If they are the right person for the job, I'm not going to quibble about party,” said Mulholland, a Grafton Democrat who said she thinks it is “absurd” that county prosecutors in the state are elected to begin with.

A similar theme was broached by Upper Valley Democrats Chairman John Chamberlin of Hanover, who said St. Hilaire had done a good job.

“The important thing is that we find someone of the right caliber to replace him. I'd prefer it to be a Democrat, but if it's a Republican, I’ll survive it,” Chamberlin said.

The job pays $71,308 a year, and the incumbent must run for re-election every two years, so St. Hilaire's replacement would face voters in 2010.

The job requires that the county attorney be at least 18 and a member of the New Hampshire Bar. Attention Dartmouth Democrats -- that last provision rules virtually all of you out. Then-Dartmouth junior Vanessa Sievers, you'll recall, was elected county treasurer last year, thanks to a FaceBook campaign.

* Former state Rep. Jay Phinizy, an Acworth Democrat who ran for state Senate in the Claremont area last fall, has a new job. He is state executive director of the Farm Service Agency, a federally appointed job. Robb Thomson, of the politically prominent Republican Thomson clan in Orford, held the job during much of the Bush administration.

* Vermonter Garrett Graff has been named the top editor of Washingtonian magazine, a monthly in the nation's capital. Graff, a 28-year-old Harvard grad, worked on Howard Dean's presidential campaign and is the son of former AP bureau chief Chris Graff.