A newly insured patient through the Affordable Care Act receives a checkup April 15 in Hollywood, Florida. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Today in the Morning Line:

Health care: President Barack Obama took to the White House briefing room Thursday to announce that eight million people had signed up for insurance through federal and state exchanges under the health care law. He said 35 percent of the enrollees were under 35 years of age. (A caveat here: That number includes children who would be covered by the plans. In fact, just 28 percent of enrollees were between 18 and 34. The percentage is key to controlling costs and almost more important than the overall number of signups.) Regardless, the health care news is politically significant for the White House and Democrats. It takes some of the sting out of conservatives withering attacks on the law and highlights the potential danger of Republicans singular messaging focus against Obamacare. If Republicans want to attack a law thats working, thats their business, Obama touted Thursday. But his message was less to Republicans, and more to skittish Democrats: I think Democrats should forcefully defend and be proud. I do not think we should apologize for it. We should not be defensive about it. I think it is a strong, good, right story to tell.

How this might change the playing field: Though Republicans hold the upper hand in the race for control of the Senate, Democrats are still within striking distance in key races, and Thursdays announcement is welcome news for them. That said, vulnerable Democrats have a reason to be skittish. Its important to remember that many of the key Senate races this year are taking place in states favorable to Republicans, where Mitt Romney won by large margins, and where the president and the health care law are deeply unpopular. But, IF the health care law bad news is over, it could perhaps mean the playing field shrinks a bit again in the states where Republicans have expanded places Obama won in 2012. The field widened to 12 states with the prospect of going up to 14, including Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, Virginia and potentially Oregon and Minnesota. But does the wave recede a bit now to the original seven GOP targets (plus a couple others): South Dakota, Montana, West Virginia, Arkansas, Alaska, North Carolina and Louisiana? That doesnt mean Colorado, Iowa, Michigan and New Hampshire are off the table or even that Republicans cant win there. By no means. Of course they can. But Democrats have to be feeling a little bit better about their chances. Its something to watch in the polls in coming months.

Could the law ever become popular? To a bigger point President Obama addressed yesterday, he was asked essentially whether the law could ever become popular. His answer: My view is that the longer we see the law benefiting millions of people, the longer we see accusations that the law is hurting millions of people being completely debunked, and the more the average American that has health insurance sees its not affecting them in a negative way, then it becomes less of a political football. Democrats point to the fact that social-welfare programs like Medicare didnt start out popular but have later become untouchable. Thats possible, but its still VERY early to say. Its highly unlikely the partisanship in the numbers on the law budge until Obama leaves office. Asked whether the law will ever move past the current partisanship, Obama said, Thats going to take more time. As weve written previously, its probably unlikely to change much until theres a Republican PRESIDENT who embraces the law and tries to fix it.

2016: Clintons numbers back to politics as usual: Hillary Clinton gets just a 49 to 45 percent favorable rating in a Fox News poll. (It is traditionally a good poll.) Thats a stark dropoff from her numbers when serving as secretary of state, but the more polarized view is to be expected, as Clinton is seen increasingly as the likely Democratic nominee. Its why it has always been in her interest to NOT appear political for as long as possible before 2016. The poll also finds that Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Chris Christies favorable ratings are all underwater. In fact, Paul is the only one who is a net-positive with independents. In head-to-head matchups, Clinton beats Christie 50 to 42 percent, Bush and Paul 51 to 42 percent.

Daily Presidential Trivia: On this day in 1994, former President Richard Nixon suffered a stroke and died four days later. He is buried beside his wife, Pat, in California. How did the two meet? Be the first to Tweet us the correct answer @NewsHour, @rachelwellford, @DomenicoPBS, and youll get a Morning Line shout-out. Congratulations to former NewsHour producer Katelyn Polantz (@kpolantz) for getting yesterdays answer- CIA Director Allen Dulles. An honorable mention to Colter Diehl (@colterdiehl), who came in a close second.

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8 million health care sign-ups take sting out of GOP attacks