Neil Abercrombie

The first signs that the Republicans were in for a terrible November in 1974 came in February of that year. Pennsylvania’s 12th District, nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of West Central Pennsylvania, had elected a Republican to Congress in every election for a century except in the very worst Republican years: 1922, 1934, and 1948. In 1972, it had reelected its 12-term congressman, John P. Saylor, with 68 percent of the vote. 

At a Democratic fundraiser yesterday, President Obama mocked the Tea Party and downplayed opposition to his health care bill. The president said that conservatives and Republicans had called Tuesday's election to replace retiring Representative Robert Wexler, Democrat of Florida, a "referendum" on the health bill. Democrat Ted Deutsch won. "Maybe it was" a referendum, the president said.

The White House has begun its health care counter-offensive. You can read the Obama health plan here. The administration leaked its plans to establish price controls to the New York Times here. The health care summit, which will give kabuki theatre a bad name, is February 25. On Sunday, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky signaled he will attend.