As health care reform passed in 2010, some Republicans were able to hitch a ride on the repeal railroad -- all the way to Washington and a majority in the House of Representatives.
But now?
"I think there's been some loss of steam in the repeal movement as it runs into reality and it runs into politics," said HuffPost Senior Political Editor Howard Fineman.
During Thursday's episode of MSNBC's "Countdown," Keith Olbermann pointed out that polls show just 18% of Americans supporting a full repeal. Fineman explained that the Obama administration and Democrats have finally gotten through to the public about the individual pieces of the package, like coverage for pre-existing conditions. "That's a reform that most of the American people understand and I think basically like," Fineman said. "Ditto with allowing kids up to the age of 26 to be covered by their parents plans."
Fineman added that he's skeptical of the GOP actually defunding the bill, and pointed out that Republicans don't want to make the same mistake that Obama did by spending too much time on health care and not enough time focusing on other issues like jobs and the economy.
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