Since early last summer — when tea party protests erupted around the U.S. — Democrats have been on the defensive.<\/p>\n
Despite sweeping majorities in both houses of Congress and a still-popular Democratic President in the White House, they seemed divided, nervous, and rudderless.<\/p>\n
The low point came when maverick Republican Scott Brown won the Senate seat held only a few months earlier by liberal icon Ted Kennedy.<\/p>\n
But as we muddle toward spring, it is the Democrats who appear poised to pass a massive health care overhaul.<\/p>\n
It includes provisions for covering and protecting Americans that presidents have been striving to achieve since Republican Teddy Roosevelt was President.<\/p>\n
The do-nothings will have done something huge, even historic. <\/p>\n
In the short term, almost as important as the bill itself is the attitude shown by Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.<\/p>\n
Lampooned as ineffectual a few weeks ago, this unlikely trio simply kept marching.<\/p>\n
Pundits call the bill dead? Fine, keep working to tweak its language. Republicans call it socialism? Fine, keep rallying support from centrist Dems.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will go through the gate,” House Speaker Pelosi declared in January. “If the gate is closed, we will go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we will pole vault in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waverers — including North Country Dems Bill Owens and Scott Murphy — were reassured by the fact that the legislation itself turned out to be a reasonably credible reform package.<\/p>\n
The independent Congressional Budget Office determined last week that it would bring insurance coverage to 32 million additional Americans, while cutting the Federal budget deficit modestly.<\/p>\n
It will also rein in some of the most egregious health insurance industry practices.<\/p>\n
Republicans, of course, have been insisting that the Democrats are handing them a big stick<\/a>.<\/p>\n Many conservatives are livid about a bill that they see as unnecessarily intrusive and impossibly expensive. <\/p>\n Another entitlement won’t fly, they say, at a time when the U.S. can’t pay its current bills. <\/p>\n That message will clearly energize the GOP’s tea party base. But I’m not convinced that opposition to health care reform will jazz most rank-and-file voters.<\/p>\n Too many people are nervous about their own health care, or have someone in their family living without coverage.<\/p>\n