He won ACA with zero Votes to spare in the Senate (60)

maybe four votes in the House (221)

and one vote in the SCOTUS.

It is a fucking miracle in some secular way.

think the timing of the 08 Credit Meltdown and McCain picking a total idiot as VP then suspending his campaign like a fool.

And Hillary voting for Bush's War.

He knew from the beginning that health care reform was going to be rough. He decided to do it anyways, and it's only now, with pieces of ACA starting to kick in one-by-one, and with the constitutional challenges resolved, that he and we the people are going to see the payoff.

It very easily could have bombed, and almost did. Several times.

The President provided a framework and made it a priority, but the meat of it was a collaboration of multiple House and Senate committees peopled by a cadre of elected lawyers - with the bulk coming from the Senate with Harkin (on behalf of Kennedy) for the coverage provisions & Baucus for the finances.

This was a Hail Mary pass. Of course he knows more than we will ever know about the complexities of Washington politics these days, but I think he went for broke and it paid off.

Obama was probably as shocked as the rest of us that Roberts broke away from the pack