Health overhaul continues to put democratic congressional candidates in hot seat

News outlets report on how the health law is playing in various House and Senate races.

The Associated Press: Senate Democrats Try To Pull Focus From Obamacare
Similar themes are playing out in other crucial Senate races, as voters have four months to decide which party will control the chamber in the final two years of Barack Obama's presidency. For Republicans, it's all about tying Democrats to Obama -- especially to a health care law that remains unpopular with many Americans. And for Democrats, the election is about just about anything else, especially if they can steer attention away from Washington and federal matters. It's a political strategy that sometimes gives the campaigns an inside-out feel, with veteran senators running as if they were first-timers without a Washington resume to defend or tout (Babington, 7/6).

The Wall Street Journal: House Centrists In Both Parties Are Under Attack
Rep. Collin Peterson plays in a rock band named the Second Amendments. His staff includes a former GOP state legislator. He voted against the Affordable Care Act, and he worked with House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) to hash out part of this year's farm bill. For more than two decades, Mr. Peterson's conservative bent and focus on agricultural policy has helped him maintain his hold on the western Minnesota district he flies himself around in a Beechcraft Bonanza single-engine plane. But as one of just seven Democrats running for re-election in districts lost by President Barack Obama in 2012, he faces a new level of scrutiny this election cycle as he seeks his 13th term in the House. As the ranks of centrist lawmakers in both parties have thinned, political operatives' efforts to oust them have intensified (Peterson, 7/6).