I've walked the halls all day in the Capitol, trying hard to figure what's happening right now in the Congress, as the minutes tick by towards a midnight Friday deadline. Some signs are good, some signs are not.
President Obama has scrapped his weekend trip to Williamsburg, Virginia with his family - maybe that means he needs to stay all weekend to forge an agreement and/or deal with a government shutdown.
But talking with and listening to members all day, I get the feeling from many rank-and-file lawmakers - on both sides - that they expect a deal later this evening.
There is a common occurrence in the Senate in recent years where we wait all day for a big vote to occur, but it doesn't happen until after 8:30 or 9:00 pm.
One theory is that we will see a repeat of that on a budget deal tonight.
What if there is a deal tonight? One thing to understand is that the agreement would not be voted on by Congress until next week, because it would take two to four days to put it all together in legislative language that would be ready for House and Senate consideration.
One thing I was struck by again today was the rhetoric from both sides at a series of dueling news conferences. We have seen that repeatedly this week.
But usually the rhetoric stops around mid-afternoon, and then there are negotiations and some progress made after that.
My gut tells me that the same thing is playing out again today, and many of my colleagues in the Capitol share the same feeling.
But, like on Sundays in the NFL, there's a reason they play the games. So we will see later tonight if a deal materializes or not.
One thing that I should report is that there does not seem to be much daylight at all between Speaker John Boehner and his troops.
Republicans reported huge cheers for the Speaker in a closed door meeting of GOP lawmakers today, as you hear little chatter from more aggressive Tea Party lawmakers about rejecting any kind of deal.
Many newly elected Republicans seem to have learned that this is only the pre-season, and that their drive for major budget cuts is in the battle over the budget for the next fiscal year.
And the longer this battle goes on, the longer it takes to get to the real showdown over spending.
What about all the talk today from Democrats about abortion restrictions? Well, Republicans have pushed for some, but GOP leaders keep saying it is not a main focus of the negotiations.
It may be more of a talking point, as both parties have stayed on message all day.
As for Legislative Conspiracy Theories, there are even some reporters who think a deal has been in the bag for days, and that all the back and forth has been orchestrated just to keep the rank-and-file in both parties happy.
That's a bit much for me to accept, but nothing will surprise me anymore.
The clock keeps ticking towards midnight. But I still don't feel any panic in the halls of the Capitol.
Yes, members don't know what the final deal will look like, but many look very relaxed for such a difficult political battle.
We'll see if my gut is right or not.
