Democrats still wonder: Run on health reform or against it?

The Fiscal Times reports that some Democrats are trying to decide whether they should run for re-election on health reform or against it. "A new [Pew Research/National Journal] poll suggests it's not so clear-cut, and some Democrats seem to agree. Case in point: Sen. Russ Feingold, who's running on his vote for the health care bills that President Obama signed in March. His new TV ad touts his support for new law and warns his GOP opponent, Ron Johnson: 'hands off my health care.' Johnson has his own ad, claiming that Feingold went against his state's wishes when he voted for the health care bills. … While a large majority of Republicans say they're less likely to vote for a pro-health care candidate, a large majority of Democrats say the opposite. Among independents, 29 percent said they'd be more likely to vote for someone who supported the new law, while 37 percent said they'd be less likely to do so" (Graham-Silverman, 10/7).

The Hill reports that health care consumer advocates are "frustrated Democrats are largely avoiding talking about the reform law on the stump — even parts of it they think are winners with the public. … But advocates and pollsters insist the party could still capitalize on the issue by focusing on a little-talked-about provision: the one requiring members of Congress to buy the same health insurance as everyone else." Many Democratic lawmakers are instead focusing on messages about creating and maintaining jobs (Miller and Lillis, 10/7).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.