Silver lining of spill for Obama: No one's listening to GOP attack ObamaCare

But with pictures from the Gulf of Mexico dominating news coverage — and even some sympathetic lobbyists having moved on — the party is struggling to get traction with its critiques.

“I’ve felt like, inevitably, people’s memories are short and move to the crisis du jour, whether it’s the stock market or the euro or BP,” lamented one Republican health care consultant…

Having lost the fight to stop the bill, Republican strategists and lobbyists who work for private clients are focused now on implementation rather than repeal — not because they support the bill but because their clients need to work with the law that exists.

“You have to deal with reality,” said William Pierce, an HHS official under President George W. Bush who is now a health care consultant. The “reality is that the law is the law, and, for companies, it’s in their best interest to make the law work the best for them.”