"The AMA is not as powerful as it was in the mid 20th Century,"  when it was arguably the organization most responsible for blocking efforts at national health insurance," writes Jonathan Cohn in The New Republic  "Nor does the medical community speak with the same unified, conservative voice it once did. Different types of physicians hold different views and speak through different organizations. Primary care physicians in partiuclar--organized through groups like American Academy of Family Phyisicians and the American Pediatrics Association--are generally more liberal and may well speak out in favor of the public plan, if they haven't already."

If health care legislation is approved, it will be an interesting indicator of which group(s) are the new 800 lb. gorillas in DC...