For Republicans, healthcare reform was supposed to be the gift that kept on giving. First, public anger over the new law would fuel a backlash against President Obama and his fellow Democrats in the 2010 midterms. Then, as the law was gradually implemented, voters would be continually reminded why they had so many doubts about it in the first place -- ensuring that the issue was prominent on their minds when it came time to pass judgment on Obama on 2012.