Who Won?

“On Monday, with the House votes behind them and the protesters gone from the Capitol grounds, both sides in the bitter health reform debate proclaimed victory — with the confidence of actors who still have a final climactic act in which to sway the audience. Republicans predicted the new law would enact the demise of the Democratic-led Congress in November. President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats began the tough work of flipping the negative polls upside-down — a goal they say will be realized when the first few benefits of the new law kick in. And both sides laid out their strategies for the fall midterm campaign — the same strategies that brought them here, only more and louder. Republicans, right now, can feel they’re on the side of the voters, who polls show simply don’t like the overarching bill. A CNN poll Monday showed 59 percent of voters oppose the reform bill passed by the House late Sunday, compared with 39 percent who support it. Democrats, meanwhile, are forced to try to convince the public that the bill is as good as advertised, even though many of its most appealing features don’t kick in for years — some even after the 2012 campaign. The party hopes to make that case with a healthy dose of testimonials from Obama, who signs the bill Tuesday, then totes it on the road to Iowa on Thursday to sell it.”