We’ve been living through some dark days for health care reform. Both here and in Washington, reports of glitchy websites, failures to connect, disappointed consumers, legislative unease, punditic portents of doom, plummeting poll numbers, the Ten Plagues of Egypt, and who knows what’s next.

Here in Vermont, Republicans are calling for a one-year delay (so they can hammer on a “failed” system in the next election), Dem and Prog lawmakers are publicly hedging their bets, and every Friday Paul “The Huntsman” Heintz puts people like Randy Brock and Darcie “Hack” Johnston in his “Winners” column because they’re making political hay over HCR’s troubled rollout. Governor Shumlin is endlessly reminded of his “nothing-burger” comment, later revised to “something-burger,” and I don’t know how we’ve gotten this far without some wise guy (Paul?) calling it a Whopper.

But while there have been problems, and it hasn’t gone nearly as smoothly as Obama or Shumlin would have hoped, I’m here to say it’s way, way too early for gloom. We’ve still got a few months at least; if this thing is working reasonably well by next spring, the glitches will soon be a distant memory. More and more people will enjoy the benefits of a more foolproof, more universal system. And the fact that Johnston won a news cycle or two in an off year will have no long-term impact whatsoever. (Kinda like the rest of her brilliant political career.)

And look: we’re starting to see reports from around the country — and here in Vermont (paywalled) — that exchange enrollments are taking off:

More people have submitted applications so far in November than in the entire month of October.

… “That doesn’t surprise me,” said Mark Larson, commissioner of the Department of Vermont Health Access.

“What I’m also noticing is that every week the number of applications started and submitted is larger than the week before,” he said.

So, between website glitches, a tsunami of negative media coverage, and people’s natural procrastination in the face of a new obligation, enrollment started out slow. That’s entirely to be expected.  

Nationally, the Washington Post Wonkblog points to a pair of stories (NY and LA Times) reporting dramatic increases in enrollment across the country:

This is what many health policy experts predicted: The rate of enrollment would grow throughout November and mid-December up until Dec. 15, the last day to purchase coverage that begins on Jan. 1. There would likely be a bit of a lull until late December and early January, followed by more sign-ups in February and especially March, the last month of the open enrollment period.

Our political media has the attention span of a caffeinated puppy. Whatever’s happening RIGHT NOW is crucial, history-making. In fact, the opposite is true: most of what’s happening right now will quickly be forgotten. (Especially by our political media, which is perpetually in search of The Next Crisis. Remember the intractable mess of Syria’s chemical weaponry and how it was threatening Obama’s legacy? Well, maybe you do, but David Gregory and his ilk don’t seem to*.)

*Speaking of whom, I remember seeing Gregory on TV at the height of that crisis insisting that diplomacy was not the solution. He said, yes he did, that even if diplomacy worked, it would be a defeat for American power and interests. God, what a tool.

Even in the short term, the impact of Obamacare’s troubles has been a lot less than the pundits try to tell you. Sure, his approval ratings have dropped by a few percentage points. After weeks of overwhelmingly negative media coverage, they were destined to drop. And if the exchanges continue to improve, so will Obama’s numbers. This “plunge” that supposedly imperils the rest of his second term will have been no more than a blip.

We should also not forget, as the media almost never reminds us, that health care reform was necessary because the old system left tens of millions uncovered and did nothing to rein in rising costs. And, as Talking Points Memo reminds us, reform was a huge challenge:

The Affordable Care Act is the biggest social services program to be implemented since the Great Society. It’s a grand experiment in whether, with a mix of incentives and regulations, the government can expand health coverage and reduce health care costs without eliminating the free market. It’s something that’s never been attempted before on this scale in American government.

Am I happy that there have been problems? No. Do I think problems were inevitable? Yep. Is there still a lot of work to be done? Of course. Will our present difficulties make any difference in the grand scheme of things, if Obamacare and Shummycare get off the ground in a reasonable amount of time? Not at all.

If that happens, it will matter not at all that Darcie Johnston made the “Winners” column once or twice. And Randy Brock’s insistence that Shummycare “does not work”?

Ash heap of history.