Guess what? Healthcare reform is getting more popular. Just a little more popular, mind you, but every little bit counts when it comes to wavering congress critters.
What’s really important here, though, isn’t the magnitude of the change, but just the fact that the tide is shifting. This might have something to do with the recent summit and some of Obama’s more aggressive speechmaking recently, but my guess is that it mostly has to do with the fact that there’s an actual bill on the table now; Democrats have something concrete to sell; Republican obstructionism has been a little too screechy for a lot of independents lately; and, most important, it looks like we’re actually in the home stretch.
That, I think, concentrates the mind wonderfully. The long, dreary dog days of the legislative process are over, and now we’re in the final few seconds of the game. It’s exciting! And it makes some of the concrete measures in the bill just a little more…..well, concrete. It’s still gonna be a close one, though.