As the second and final health reform bill made its way through the Congress on Thursday, Democrats joined with President Obama in all but daring Republicans to make the 2010 mid-term elections all about health care reform.

Instead of a Dirty Harry quote of "Make my day", the President used a speech in Iowa City, Iowa to use a slightly different semantic choice.

"I say go for it," he told the raucous crowd.

"If these Congressmen in Washington want to come here to Iowa and tell small business owners that they plan to take away their tax credits and essentially raise their taxes, be my guest," said the President.

As the President spoke, the Senate was voting 56-43 in favor of the health care reconciliation bill, as only three Democrats broke ranks and voted no - Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and her home state colleague Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR).

It wasn't lost on critics that if any of the three of them had voted 'No' back in December, health care reform would never have made it through the Senate on Christmas Eve.

"The American people know there is no fix for Obamacare," thundred Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN).  "We need to repeal this law and start over."

Pence was not alone, as Republicans blasted the plan on both the floors of the House and Senate.  But just four days after showdown votes in the House, the debate seemed oddly anti-climactic on both sides, as it had clearly moved into a new phase - repeal or keep it in place.

"Only One Way To Fix Dems' Job-Killing Takeover of Health Care: Repeal and Replace," screamed the headline of a press release from House GOP Leader John Boehner.

As for Democrats, they were making it just as clear as the President had, that if Republicans want a fight on the merits of this new health plan, then the Dems are ready.

"What the American people have now inscribed in law, we are not going to let them take it away," said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) after the Senate voted 56-43 in favor of the health reconciliation measure.

That is already a theme of sorts for Democrats, who are trying their best to pivot from a debate about the merits of the bill to a debate about why the GOP shouldn't take away extra health benefits.

"If they want to have that fight, I welcome that fight," said the President.

Game on.  We'll see who wins in November.