Democrats hope September alters health-care debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — For backers of health-care overhaul, it’s TGIS: Thank goodness it’s September.

August was brutal, as lawmakers faced raucous crowds denouncing Democratic plans and polls showed support for President Barack Obama and various proposals dropping fast. Now, with Congress to reconvene Tuesday, proponents hope to change the dynamic by holding quiet, closed-door sessions with nervous Democratic lawmakers and arguing that far-reaching health-care changes can be good politics as well as good policy.

They also hope GOP-led opposition has peaked. But that’s far from clear, and Republicans are eager to hand Obama his first major defeat.

Obama plans to meet with top Democratic lawmakers Tuesday, and some supporters are urging him to associate himself more directly with key elements of health-care bills that have cleared four congressional committees. Obama plans a Sept. 15 speech on health care in Pittsburgh.

White House officials and top congressional Democrats concede they were caught flat-footed by the ferocity of attacks against their health-care plans during the August recess.

A new CNN/Opinion Research poll found that 53 percent of Americans disapproved of Obama’s handling of health care, and 44 percent approved. In March, far more people had approved than disapproved.

In a Kaiser Health Tracking Poll in August, 40 percent said they favored passing some sort of health-care revision this year, a dramatic drop from 62 percent in June.

Conceding that opponents have the momentum, Democratic leaders plan a round of big and small meetings in the Capitol next week, focusing on moderate senators and House members from competitive districts who fear that voting for a sweeping bill could cost them the next election. Liberal groups have conducted hundreds of events in a bid to show that a robust overhaul is more popular than August’s news reports would suggest.

“The message they’ll be hearing coming back to Washington will be very different than what they heard when August started,” said Jacki Schechner of Health Care for America Now. One idea her group will stress, she said, is that the politically smart vote, even in toss-up districts, will support widespread changes meant to expand health-insurance coverage and options.

Many first- and second-term House Democrats believe the noisiest protesters, who often dominated last month’s town halls, do not represent most of their constituents, said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who is tasked with getting his colleagues re-elected. Democratic leaders will try to build on that point, he said, listening to members’ concerns and emphasizing the political and societal risks of doing nothing.

Some Democrats say Republicans blundered by basing so much of the opposition on demonstrably untrue claims, such as assertions that the House legislation would lead to “death panels” for elderly patients. In the Capitol’s cool, calm setting, party leaders hope to convince lawmakers that such claims are easily refuted.

Republicans “have hooked their wagon to a misinformation truck that at some point will run out of gas,” said Democratic Party spokesman Doug Thornell. Republicans say many of the criticisms are defensible.

Democrats also are portraying GOP leaders as cynics who pretend to want a bipartisan accord but have never intended to compromise in any meaningful way.