Blanche Lincoln

Senate Democrats who backed President Obama's health care law and now face re-election in Republican-leaning states are reinforcing their support for the overhaul -- as Republicans intensify their criticism.Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina will face voters in 2014 for the first time since voting three years ago for the Affordable Care Act -- also known as "Obamacare."They aren't apologizing for their vote, and several are pursuing an aggressive strategy: Embrace the law, help voters use it and fix what doesn't work."I don't run from my votes," Begich said. "Politicians who sit around and say, `That's controversial so I better run from it,' just ask for trouble. Voters may not always agree with you, but they respect people who think about these issues and talk about them."That means, Begich said, reminding voters that as a candidate in 2008 he called for prohibiting insurers from denying coverage based on existing ...

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