Obama proudly proclaims that the House is still “capable of doing great things;” this as the legislative body sends the health reform bill to his desk for signature. Although this will happen, the Senate must deal with a “package of changes” that were approved by the House on Sunday. The Senate bill passed the House by a 7 vote margin, with 3 additional buffer votes in the House making it possible. Of course, Republicans in the House were unified in their opposition. (Democrats also squashed a GOP motion to recommit the Senate’s bill via a 199-232 vote; this would have ended any hope of passing reform legislation.)

Historic Vote on Health Reform Bill

For Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) and the President, Sunday’s events were a vindication of sorts in the memory of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), whom the former said “made healthcare his life’s work”. For Obama, this historic day marked the culmination of the seeds planted by FDR and William Jefferson Clinton (and by extension, Hillary) in their ultimately failed quests for what Obama achieved Sunday night. Twenty months and a more deeply entrenched partisan divide than ever were the spoils of victory for a President who must navigate the tumult such a pyrrhic victory brings as Washington and the body politic turn toward its possible effects on the 2010 midterms.

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