Last week I had a quick conversation with my Maryland congressman at the Starbucks near our IFA offices, and came to understand more fully the dilemma that Democrats face in the midterm elections, and why voters are frustrated that candidates still don’t get it.

President Barack Obama and other Democrats say they have the 60 votes necessary to pass financial services reform legislation.

While the Obama Administration is confident that the coming week will produce the first step in a march to victory on health care reform, at least one Republican is saying the way Democrats are fighting for change is “a political kamikaze mission.”

Both of Maryland’s senators have gotten behind a last-ditch effort to revive a public, government-run health insurance option by using a controversial legislative procedure known as reconciliation.

Setting the stage for a Feb. 25 bipartisan summit on the future of health care, the Obama Administration echoed its drive for unified, comprehensive reform, while at least one Republican says Democrats continue to move forward without his party’s input.

Several weeks after the big push failed, few people are talking about health care reform. The usual suspects – President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and other key Democrats, smarting still from the Scott Brown Senate victory in Massachusetts last month – continue to talk (it’s hardly a call or shout now) for change, but the average Joes and Joannes in middle-town America have moved on.

The newest member of Congress said health care reform was on its “last legs” before his election and is calling for Washington, D.C., to start from scratch on health reform, a stance echoed by one of the highest-ranking Republicans.

Maryland’s Democrat-dominated Congressional delegation praised President Obama‘s State of the Union address for taking on controversial issues, including gays in the military, and not giving up on health care.

Health care reform was front and center the first time President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress last year, but moved to the background in his latest address Wednesday night (Jan. 27) as he instead focused on jobs and the nation’s economy.

Only one quarter of Americans support the current health reform legislation proposed in Washington, D.C., according to a new study by LIMRA, with a majority of poll respondents say they are pleased with their current coverage.