Lawmakers Get Earful From Wary Voters

One centrist Democrat warned on health overhaul — 'walk slowly'

ELKHART, Ind.— As Congress returns this week for its fall session, the fate of President Barack Obama’s massive health care overhaul could lie in the hands of centrist Democrats like Rep. Joe Donnelly of Indiana.

Donnelly, a second-term congressman, represents a bellwether district: President George W. Bush won it in 2004 with 56 percent of the vote, but Obama won it last year with 54 percent.

As one of 52 fiscally cautious Blue Dog Democrats, his vote could be crucial. If most of the Blue Dogs vote “no” on the House leadership’s bill, then Obama’s signature first-term project almost surely will fail.

That would be an extraordinary turn of events for a candidate who won the White House with nearly 53 percent of the popular vote last year and who carried Indiana, a state no Democratic presidential candidate had won in 44 years.

On Wednesday night, Obama will try to sway lawmakers and the public on the health care overhaul in an address to a joint session of Congress, even as polls show voters increasingly skeptical about his approach.

It’s a skepticism Donnelly — and lawmakers around the country — heard firsthand from constituents over the August recess.

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