High Court health law action already making political waves

NPR: How Health Care Ruling Could Shift The GOP Debate
As the Supreme Court gets ready to hear arguments about President Obama's health care law, supporters and opponents are planning a flurry of rallies, press conferences and phone banks to remind people why the law is so great -; or so terrible. Republicans have been energized by their desire to see the law repealed, but the issue could be more complicated for the GOP than it seems (Liasson, 3/22).

Bloomberg: Health-Care Law Critics Outspend Supporters 3-To-1, Report Finds
Opponents of President Barack Obama's health-care law have dominated the nation's airwaves trying to shape public opinion of it with ads claiming -- falsely -- that it drained $500 billion from Medicare. On the law's second anniversary, a report shows critics have outspent supporters by a 3-to-1 ratio on television commercials since Obama signed the bill, according to the New York-based Kantar Media's CMAG, which tracks advertising.  Groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Republican campaign organizations spent $204 million on ads framing the law negatively, compared with $57 million spent by supporters, primarily the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the report shows (Przybyla, 3/23).

The Hill: Report: Health Care Critics Outspending Supporters 3-To-1 On TV Ads
The report released Thursday by Kantar Media could help explain why the law's public image hasn't improved. Opponents have spent three times more than supporters on ads about the healthcare law in the two years since it passed, according to the report. The Kantar report says opponents have spent roughly $204 million on ads about the law, compared with about $58 million from supporters (Baker, 3/22).

The Wall Street Journal: Health Law Slow To Win Favor
When the health-care overhaul became law after a bitter debate, many Democrats predicted Americans would grow to like it as they started enjoying some of the early benefits. The day after the president signed the bill into law, which happened exactly two years ago, an average of major polls collated by the website Real Clear Politics showed 50.4% of Americans opposed. This week, that had changed only by a tenth of a percentage point, ticking up to 50.5% (Adamy and Radnofsky, 3/22).

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., sees an opportunity to win the messaging battle.

Politico: Mitch McConnell Eyes GOP Takeover, Health Care Reform Repeal
Not only is McConnell thinking about winning in 2012 with a message focused largely on health care, he's also starting to chart a course for a Republican Senate in 2013 and what could be a bruising reelection bid in 2014 (Raju, 3/22).