Only a few weeks ago, enactment of a Medicare benefit for prescription drugs looked like a big winning issue for next year's campaigns, and lawmakers worried mainly about punishment from voters if they failed to act. Now, with voters responding skeptically to details of bills approved by the House and Senate, lawmakers have another concern: punishment if they do act.
Disenchantment, especially over what critics regard as the skimpiness of benefits, could turn the issue from a plus to a minus in the 2004 presidential and congressional campaigns, according to some lawmakers and political strategists.
And, more immediately, if the skepticism deepens, it could add to the complexity of already difficult negotiations to resolve differences between the two measures that are scheduled to begin in earnest when Congress returns after Labor Day.
In a worst-case scenario, President Bush and lawmakers of both parties could wind up being blamed by voters, whatever they do. They could be blamed either for failure to pass a bill or for passing a bill that falls too far short of voters' expectations, a description that appears to fit the bills passed by the House and Senate last month.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15169-2003Aug2.html