Word: reform
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...candidate of "change." His team toppled conventional wisdom. Now he tells wavering Democrats in Congress to take their own leap of faith: Look past the numbers that show widespread dismay at the health care debate and a nation deeply divided over the Democratic bill. Believe that health care reform is a 2010 win for Democrats...
...argument flows in several directions at once. First of all, he says, the details of reform, as Democrats hope to frame it, are far more popular than the package as a whole. Americans overwhelmingly want to end the insurance industry's practice of denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. They want to be able to afford coverage when they are between jobs. They want seniors to have more help with prescription-drug costs. Second, he says, the worst fears of Americans will never be realized. "Is somebody's elderly parent or relative going to be put to death...
...perhaps most important of all, Benenson believes the current polls confuse a skepticism about health care reform with broad discontent over the political process in Washington. "This is what people don't understand," he says. "People are frustrated that Congress doesn't seem able to work together to do the job that people think they sent them there to do." A solution to this problem is action...
...Obama's aides hope that the passage of health care reform will allow Democrats to reset the debate, away from internal party anxiety and dysfunction. Benenson and others in the White House have mapped out a strategy through November, one that they are betting will put Republicans on the defensive over such issues as reforming Wall Street and money in politics. "Remember, elections are about choices," Benenson says, offering the classic election-year battle cry. "There is a lot of action that is going to happen pretty quickly here that is going to create clear contrast...
...players in health care reform...