After postponing the vote on the healthcare repeal bill for a week out of respect for the shooting victims in Tucson, Ariz., the House Republican leadership has slated a vote on the bill for tomorrow, with debate beginning today. Support for repeal among Congressional Republicans is substantial. Many Washingtonians will be surprised if a single House GOP member votes "No" on the repeal bill. Given the size of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, this vote would give opponents of the Affordable Care Act enough votes to have the repeal bill pass the House.

The conventional wisdom in Washington, however, believes that the repeal will ultimately fail. A procedural vote to move forward on healthcare in the House found only four Democratic votes in favor. Nine House Democrats who had voted against healthcare reform voted against the procedural measure, and the bill is expected to pick up little support among other Democrats.

Although Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has vowed to fight for the repeal measure in the Senate once it passes the House, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he will block the repeal effort in the upper chamber. Since Democrats continue to hold a majority in the Senate, the bill is expected to die there. And even if it somehow passed the Senate, President Obama would certainly veto it.

Both parties are looking beyond the near future in terms of their pitches on health care reform. Republicans plan to use their majority position in the House as a platform both to undo parts of the legislation and to erode public support for it. For example, House Republicans are planning to insert a measure into any funding renewal bill prohibiting funds from being appropriated towards funding healthcare reform implementation in the short-term. In addition, they plan to hold hearings on the legislation, which would force administration officials in charge of implementing the law to publicly answer House Republican questions on controversial provisions.

The GOP also plans to undo the mandate requiring all individuals to have healthcare insurance. If the individual mandate is repealed and nothing is put in its place, healthcare reform would likely unravel because new insurance plans for those with pre-existing conditions would become unaffordable. Over time, Republicans hope to repeal the entire bill and put forward their own plan, though this likely would require winning the Senate and the Presidency in 2012.

Democrats Plan to Defend Bill

Meanwhile, Democrats are crafting a campaign to defend the reform bill. With debates on issues like the public option now behind them, Democrats expect to maintain a united front in favor of the legislation. In addition, since some parts of the bill are now being put into place, Democrats will be able to point to concrete benefits of the bill instead of having to defend abstract concepts. The Democratic message is expected to focus on stories of individuals previously unable to receive healthcare coverage who are now able to do so.

Only time will tell whether healthcare reform remains a high profile issue beyond the first few months of the 112th Congress or whether other emerging issues will bump it from the national stage.

No Re-Election Plans for Senators Conrad, Lieberman and Hutchison

Washington Insiders woke up to the somewhat surprising news that Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) will retire at the end of the current Congress rather than seek re-election. In a statement released publicly on his website, Conrad stated that he would rather focus on tackling issues facing the country rather than weathering the grind of another re-election campaign. He plans on focusing on these following issues over the next two years:

• Set the country on a sound fiscal course;
• Reduce America's dependence on foreign energy;
• Craft a new Farm Bill;
• Advance permanent flood control for the Red River Valley and;
• Address the disaster in the Devils Lake Basin.

Senator Conrad, who was first elected to the Senate in 1986, has said that seeing his two longtime friends and fellow Democrats in the North Dakota delegation leave office this past election cycle helped influence his decision. Former Senator Byron Dorgan retired at the end of the 111th Congress, while Representative Earl Pomeroy lost his re-election bid after spending nine terms in the House.

The announcement will likely make this coming election cycle even harder for Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA). Twenty-three seats held either by Democrats or by Independents who caucus with the Democrats will be up for re-election in 2012, as opposed to only 10 Republican seats. The veteran lawmaker's retirement makes this seat a likelier Republican pickup than previously thought.

Conrad's announcement comes on the heels of another retirement announcement from last week. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) stated this past Thursday that she will not seek re-election in 2012. Senator Hutchinson last year ran against incumbent Rick Perry in the Republican primary for governor of Texas, but only came in second to Perry.

And this just in: Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential candidate and longtime Democrat who won re-election as an Independent in 2006, is expected to announce on Wednesday that he will not seek a fifth term. Read more here.