Watching Obama's unsuccessful press conference, I got the sense that the man's heart wasn't really in it.  And I was thinking that from a personal standpoint Obama would actually benefit from having the Republicans successfully block health care reform.
I was struck by his response to the questioner from the Plain Dealer, who wanted to get Obama to say that a government-option would never deny anyone any type of care.   Obama should have pounced on the question, channelling Peter Singer, pointing out that private insurance companies do that all the time in order to reap big profits, and that such a question was inane-- would you really want a government system to pay $1 million to extend the life of every elderly cancer victim, for example, for another six months?   Instead, Obama spoke in vague terms about "making decisions," with little confidence.    
Here's the problem with health care reform.  Everyone knows the system is no good as a whole, but a slight majority are generally happy with their current benefits and are afraid of seeing them reduced.  If health care goes down, Obama will be perceived as having tried nobly, but having been thwarted by the special interests and their political allies, the Republicans.
As the system gets worse, as premiums go up and more people are denied care, the situation only benefits the Democrats, since the Republican solution is essentially the status quo-- let the market determine things.  If the reform is successful but adds to the deficit, as it surely will in the short term, the Republicans can portray Obama as fiscally irresponsible.
From a political standpoint, it seems that Obama wins by losing, especially if it's close.    Thoughts?