Yep. David Corn has a piece up on “Politic Daily” today that is probably the clearest explanation yet on Obama’s political troubles in getting Obamacare passed. An excerpt:

Last month, [Democratic strategist John] Marttila sent out a memo to Democratic leaders in which he distilled the extensive polling available and offered advice on how to advance health care reform. As I’ve often stated, anyone who second-guesses Obama and his political team must do so with a certain humility, for these guys and gals have compiled a pretty good track record. But Marttila’s memo presented a series of strong points.
His first was sort of a “duh,” but a rather important one: “many Americans simply don’t know enough [about Obama’s health reform plan] to have an opinion.” This means, Marttila wrote, that “a huge chunk of the electorate is up for grabs.” It also means this huge chunk is susceptible to demagoguery and disinformation. Politics, as the cliche goes, is often about defining a candidate or an issue. If many Americans do not have a strong grasp of Obama’s plan — or the legislation now under (painful) construction in Congress — its foes have a better chance of winning the critical battle of definition. After all, if someone doesn’t know the details of the plan, it’s easier for him or her to end up believing the legislation actually does force Medicare doctors to tell patients to kick the bucket. As for the partisan divide, Marttila pointed out that because Republican voters are overwhelmingly dead-set against Obama’s reform, “House and Senate Republicans from the Red States will feel increasingly empowered to hammer away.” And independents “will remain problematic throughout the debate,” given that they are fiscally conservative and could be swayed by the predictable GOP talking points that the Obama plan is too costly and too risky.Marttila noted that assorted polls show that support for Obama on health care “is too generalized” and that “too many Americans . . . see health reform benefiting others but not them.” Perhaps more important, large majorities of voters tell pollsters that they are generally satisfied with their health insurance coverage and consider their own insurance affordable. (One poll Marttila conducted found that 88 percent had insurance coverage and 85 percent were satisfied with it.)
None of this is good for the White House. By sitting back and letting Congress draft health care reform legislation — in a messy and unruly process — Obama has placed himself in the position of having to rally popular support for a thing not yet made and not entirely of his own making. At a prime-time press conference a few weeks ago, he did try to spell out what’s in the plan for you. But that did not provide a discernible boost for him or the Dems. And if most Americans are not dissatisfied with their health care coverage, why would they want to see a major change in the system?