Healthcare happened, even though Lieberman killed the Public Option (whcih was a desaster). But mostly it was attacked by the extremists Right with their endless attempts to strike it down via courts. They did not succeed. In fact, not voting Dems because of not holding the nose about Dems pushes the things even farer away. The Left, the Greens, the Counter-Everything... they may indeed, now and then, succeed locally but not on a larger scale. Pushing then for the "perfect" instead of the "good" is why in Europe many centre-left parties struggle and the Right flourishes. It's not only foolish but willfully oblivious to history that the Left (etc.) refrains from participating when it's not going their way.

cc @band