In the days immediately after the special Massachusetts election, which gave Senate Republicans the ability to block votes on legislation, the prospects for reform looked so bleak that one reliable source emailed me a one-word message: “Dead.”

But within 24 hours, that same source had emailed me another one-word message: “Alive.”

And that’s a pretty good description of where things stand today, at least based on what I've gleaned from conversations with insiders over the last week.

According to these sources, Democrats have made progress--more progress, certainly, than might be evident from all the dire headlines of the past few days. There seems to be a plan in place for enacting reform, even with the Massachusetts setback.

But it’s not an easy plan to execute, at least in this political environment. And it’s not clear--to me and to many of the people I’ve interviewed--whether Democrats in the House, Senate, and administration are sufficiently committed to making it work.