Right after health care reform passed, we started hearing teabaggers and Republicans shouting for repeal. Now it looks like that might not be happening so much:

Anxious backers of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law are starting to see a flicker of hope.

While polls show Americans remain sharply divided over the Democrats’ landmark legislation, they aren’t clamoring for its repeal.

Instead, the public seems willing to listen to candidates who would give the overhaul a chance and fix or improve it as needed. That’s the signal from some surveys and a congressional race in a bellwether Pennsylvania district.

It’s a pragmatic, somewhat counterintuitive outlook.

That could be a break for Democrats in the fall elections, since Republicans are campaigning hard for repeal of the health care law.

“Though most Americans still do not favor the law, they tend to be leaning toward candidates who would give it a chance and make some changes, rather than those who would repeal it and start over again,” said Robert Blendon, a Harvard public health school professor who follows opinion trends on health care.

I believe the big problem is that Americans realize our current system is really fubared. The only hope they have right now is with the current bill, flawed as it may be. Republicans aren’t putting forth any plans to deal with soaring costs. They are playing right into the old “party of no” meme, and that is going to hurt them.

What this article also indicates is a prime time to start talking about fixing the bill. That was what Democrats talked about when they passed it, yet we haven’t heard of any fixes on the table yet. If people are willing to listen right now, then Democrats should start putting out plans to make the bill better and expand coverage, as well as reduce costs, for even more Americans. Keep health care as a hot button issue in 2010 and Democrats could ease their losses a bit.