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JOSH GERSTEIN
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) predicts health care reform will be the central issue in every election contest this fall if Democrats manage to pass the overhaul plan supported by President Barack Obama.
"Every election this fall will be a referendum on this bill," McConnell said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
McConnell also said he sees no potential upside for the Democrats, at least in the short term. "The benefits don't kick in for four years," the Senate leader said. "Just looking at the politics of it there's nothing but pain here for the next four years. Why in the world would they conclude that would be popular?"
While broad coverage subsidies don't kick in until 2014, Obama contends their legislation would deliver other benefits almost immediately, including financial aid to small businesses and an end to coverage denials based on pre-existing conditions.
