Democrats are taking a risk of looking like they are jamming health care through in the face of public opposition.

Dan Balz writes in The Washington Post:

Democrats think more government is the answer; Republicans say the opposite, that market competition is the best antidote to the ailing system. Republicans are focused on cost, both rising premiums and government expenditures. They haven't made universal coverage anything close to a priority. Democrats are more determined to expand coverage to many millions more who lack insurance. But they say they have not ignored costs. Their proposals, they argue, would reduce premiums and the deficit. Republicans say the projected governmental savings will never be realized.

The White House and congressional leaders now have about a month to pull together majorities in both houses.

Democrats may be forced to use reconciliation to enact health care with a bare majority, believing that in the end the public will not care much about congressional procedures, only outcomes. But if the deal-making from December is any guide, Democrats are taking a risk of looking like they are jamming health care through in the face of public opposition.

When Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) won his surprise victory last month, the anger over health care had as much to do with the process by which Democrats were trying to pass the bill as with the substance. That should be a caution to the Democrats that process can color public opinion.

Whatever happens in Congress, the health-care fight is heading toward a political referendum in November.