Hope?

Today's White House health care bill negotiations have wrapped up -- no meetings are scheduled for this holiday weekend, as lawmakers prepare to submit a revamped package to the Congressional Budget Office for new cost estimates.

. . . With the NFL playoffs coming up this weekend, perhaps a football metaphor is in order: President Obama's health care initiative has been like a long broken-field run, with advocates often reversing field and avoiding tacklers, but steadily moving forward nonetheless.

Now, near the end zone, Obama and the Democrats face another obstacle: A special Senate election in Massachusetts, of all things -- to replace the late Ted Kennedy, a long-time champion of a national health care plan.

. . . Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., put it this way: "If Scott Brown wins, it'll kill the health bill."

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/01/obamas-health-care-run-faces-new-obstacle-massachusetts/1

We can hope.