President Barack Obama does not believe his top legislative priority, a U.S. healthcare overhaul, is dead if a Democrat loses a key Senate election in Massachusetts on Tuesday, the White House said.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama was "both surprised and frustrated" and "not pleased" about how close the race between Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown has been for the Senate seat long held by Democrat Edward Kennedy.

But he asked if Obama believes healthcare will die if the Democrats lose the seat and thus their supermajority in the Senate, Gibbs said: "I don't think the president believes that."

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60...liticsNews