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hide captionDemocrats may have lost the battle in a Florida special election, which Republican Rep. David Jolly (right) won and in which the Affordable Care Act figured prominently. But they don't think they have lost the health-law messaging war.

Democrats may have lost the battle in a Florida special election, which Republican Rep. David Jolly (right) won and in which the Affordable Care Act figured prominently. But they don't think they have lost the health-law messaging war.

Congressional Democrats' messaging on the Affordable Care Act obviously didn't work as they had hoped in the Florida special election for a vacant House seat, since Republican David Jolly won the Tuesday vote.

But does that mean Democrats should abandon the "fix it, don't nix" it message delivered by Democrat Alex Sink, who narrowly lost a race that Republicans sought to nationalize and turn into a referendum on the health law?

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., certainly isn't saying so.

"I think that our candidate Alex Sink she's so excellent, so superb and she said it just right. There are many good things about the Affordable Care Act that are good for the health and well-being of the American people," Pelosi told journalists Thursday. "There are some things that need to be fixed. Let's do that. And that is the message of our members."

There's new polling evidence to suggest that Pelosi isn't just being blindly optimistic. A Bloomberg News poll indicates that 64 percent of Americans support the law as is, or favor minor changes.

The problem for Democrats is that's a national poll. The numbers would likely look far different in the Republican-leaning districts that Democrats would need to pick up to have any chance to win back the House in November something which seems nearly impossible at this stage.

The same holds true for the four vulnerable Democratic senators who represent red states Obama lost; antipathy to the law overall runs higher in those states.

Indeed, the poll found 72 percent of Republicans favoring repeal of the law. That kind of number has Republicans confident that they can only benefit as Democrats rally around the health law.

More:

Will Democrats Change Their Health Law Message After Florida Loss?