But the evidence shows that people were not sitting still as the politicians went into the final battle. Four of the seven latest major public polls showed an increase in the numbers favoring the health care reform as it was being debated over the last few weeks. Only one showed it losing ground.

While the health care battle over the previous nine months had intensified opposition to reform and fueled the “tea party” revolt, the last two months produced the opposite effect. A poll that I conducted with the Democratic strategist James Carville for Democracy Corps over the past week showed a 5-point increase in the number of self-identified “intense” reform supporters, to 24 percent. Likewise, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s latest poll found that 28 percent of respondents were now “strong” supporters, up from 19 percent in January…

Democrats today could easily be at the beginning of a hopeful six-month period, starting with the signing of the health care legislation that will further raise the public profile of the president and the Democratic Congress.