With 8 Million and Counting ACA Sign-Ups, Sebelius Could Bid for Senate

"Sebelius for Senate?" a Washington Post headline argues. "It makes no sense."

That is undoubtedly the case -- if the country remains forever locked in November 2013.

But the politics of November 2014 won't look anything like the politics of November 2013.

Indeed, those who actually turn the pages of their calendars recognize that a lot has already changed since Obama and the Democrats hit the political skids late last year.

The Affordable Care Act, implemented by Sebelius, is now exceeding goals. More than 7 million Americans were signed up by late March. And less than a month later, as noted by President Obama a press conference Thursday, the figure has risen to 8 million. Another 3 million people have enrolled in expanded Medicaid and children's insurance programs. And the overall number of Americans with healthcare coverage will increase by millions more before the end of 2014.

As Obama says, "This thing is working."

That does not mean that every voter has forgotten about the complexities and controversies that attended the first stages of Affordable Care Act implementation. Nor will it alter the view of millions of Americans (including this writer) that Obama, Sebelius and the rest of the administration should have embraced a single-payer "Medicare for All" initiative, rather than the complicated and expensive Affordable Care Act model.

But access to healthcare is expanding rapidly in America. And attitudes toward the Democrats who have advanced reforms are changing just as rapidly.