Lawmakers get earful from wary voters

MSNBC.com
By Tom Curry, National Affairs Writer
September 8, 2009

As Congress returns this week for its fall session, the fate of President Barack Obama’s massive health care overhaul could lie in the hands of centrist Democrats like Rep. Joe Donnelly of Indiana.

Donnelly, a second-term congressman, represents a bellwether district: President George W. Bush won it in 2004 with 56 percent of the vote, but Obama won it last year with 54 percent.

As one of 52 fiscally cautious Blue Dog Democrats, his vote could be crucial. If most of the Blue Dogs vote “noâ€