Democrats didn't "do a good enough job" in selling health care overhaul

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) acknowledged Tuesday that his party has not succeeded in selling the public on the benefits of the national health care overhaul, noting that polls indicate that opinion remains divided on the law.

"Apparently, none of us did a good enough job," Hoyer, the number-two House Democrat, said at his weekly pen-and-pad briefing when asked whether the White House had succeeded in selling one of its signature legislative agenda items.

Hoyer's remarks came as the House prepares to debate a Republican-led effort to repeal the health care law. A repeal bill is expected to pass the House on Wednesday but faces stiff odds in the Senate, where Democrats remain in the majority.

Hoyer said that he expects that lawmakers are going to be talking about health care "between now and the election" in 2012. He noted that while there's widespread agreement among the public on the need for access to affordable health care, consensus is lacking on how to achieve that goal.

In the wake of the shooting in Tucson that killed six and wounded 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), Hoyer said that there's been no concerted effort among House Democratic leaders to rein in lawmakers' rhetoric, although he expects that members "will heed their own advice and the advice of others" and address issues such as health care repeal on the merits.

"Too much of the public debate, particularly in the media, is about incitement rather than informing," he said. "It's about making people angry; disrespecting the other point of view on the other side. This is unrelated to Arizona, but certainly Arizona has brought this into focus."

Hoyer also dismissed the idea that there might be any ill will between House Democrats and President Obama following a lame-duck session during which liberal House lawmakers were in open revolt over the tax-cut deal negotiated between the president and congressional Republicans. Obama is slated to address House Democrats at their annual retreat this weekend.

"I think the answer is no," Hoyer said when asked about the potential for any lingering bitterness, adding that tackling the issues facing the country "will require conscientious, principled cooperation between all of us who have been elected by the American people to address those problems."