In recent days, the Republican Party has dealt with some internal strife regarding their messaging on health care reform because lawmakers are split with regard to repealing the bill, reports the Hill. The repeal effort is led by Senator Jim DeMint and Congressman Steve King; on the other hand, Republican leadership has been pushing for a “repeal and replace” strategy that has more conservative lawmakers frustrated. On the other side of the aisle, Democrats – especially first- and second-term lawmakers – are shunning big rallies and gatherings about the overhaul bill, since controversy about the measure remains high and some legislators have even received threats in the days following the vote, reports the Associated Press. The Los Angeles Times profiles three lawmakers who have taken the conversation back to their home districts: Virginia Democrat Tom Perriello, who voted yes; California Republican Mary Bono Mack, who voted no; and New York Democrat Michael Arcuri who originally backed the bill, then ultimately opposed final passage.

The biggest question, of course, is how these legislators’ votes will affect voters’ perceptions of them during the midterm elections in November. The controversy has already helped push Michigan Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak to retire this year, following the intense controversy surrounding his vote in favor of the President’s health care reform measure and despite many encouraging him against it, the Washington Post reports. AARP and other reform supporters are lobbying older Americans to convince them that the enhanced prescription drug and prevention benefits and changes to the Medicare system included in the overhaul will benefit these high-propensity voters, convincing them to support Democrats and minimizing the party’s losses in November, reports the Hill.

Also this week, several more states signed on to a lawsuit first filed March 23 by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum challenging the President Obama’s health care reform overhaul, Bloomberg reports. Indiana, North Dakota, Mississippi, Nevada, Arizona and Minnesota joined 13 other states in claiming that the measure’s expansion of state-run Medicaid places an unconstitutional burden on their already cash-strapped states. Politico points out that in three of these states, Minnesota, Arizona and Nevada, Republican governors have bypassed Democratic attorneys general in joining the suit. Attorneys general usually represent their states in such matters, but in this case, they argue that the mandates fall within federal authority and do not have any legal merit. That Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has joined the suit is notable because he is a likely candidate for president in 2012 and has thus far run to the right of another supposed contender, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the Hill reports.