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will lose, little more than a year before an election that history says they should win.
• To minimize the damage, the party must redefine victory as something less than a full defunding of Obama's 3-year-old health care law, yet convince the most conservative GOP supporters that Republican lawmakers succumbed after a principled fight. All without triggering a government shutdown or a default by the Treasury, or otherwise offending independents whose ballots will settle the 2014 elections.
• Already, party leaders are making that effort. "I just don't happen to think filibustering a bill that defunds Obamacare is the best route to defunding Obamacare," Sen. Mitch McConnell said archly Tuesday. "All it does is shut down the government and keep Obamacare funded."
• That was one day after rejecting the path outlined by the party's rebel-in-chief, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz -- who staged a speaking marathon on the Senate floor Tuesday and Wednesday in which he said politicians in both parties routinely ignore the voters' wishes.
• Seeking to turn the heat on to Democrats, McConnell said that four years ago they voted for the health care law with the "excuse that they didn't know how it would turn out. Well, they don't have that excuse now. I think we deserve to know where they stand now."
• ___

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- With new health insurance markets launching next week, the Obama administration is unveiling premiums and plan choices for 36 states where the federal government is taking the lead to cover uninsured residents.
• Before tax credits that work like an upfront discount for most consumers, sticker-price premiums for a mid-range benchmark plan will average $328 a month nationally for an individual, comparable to payments for a new car.
• The overview of premiums and plan choices, released Wednesday by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, comes as the White House swings into full campaign mode to promote the benefits of the Affordable Care Act to a skeptical public. Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, refuse to abandon their quest to derail "Obamacare" and flirt with a government shutdown to force the issue.
• Sebelius stressed the positive in a preview call with reporters. Consumers will be able to choose from an average of 53 plan options when the new markets open Oct. 1 for people who don't have health care on the job.
• "For millions of Americans, these new options will finally make health insurance

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