The Ohio Democrat opened his local newspaper on Wednesday to find a giant ad urging him to vote against the bill - featuring a photo of him with his two young daughters. Later, tea-party protesters stormed his office and berated his staff.

On the other hand, he was heading to the White House yesterday to be wooed by Obama. And there was talk of Catholic nuns in his district organizing a candlelight vigil supporting the bill.

Of the few dozen House Democrats who could cast the deciding votes on health care, none is getting more pressure than the first- and second-term moderates like Driehaus who gave the Democratic Party control of Congress in the last two elections - and whose fate in November could decide who's in charge next year.

While many of these lawmakers are the young, rising stars in the party, they also are often the most vulnerable. They lack the name recognition and political identity that long-term incumbency affords, and many represent swing districts that could easily shift to the right on Election Day.

Until now, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) has given them a long leash to vote in their own best interests, and many opposed the health-care bill in November. But as Democrats scramble for votes and advocacy groups unleash furious lobbying campaigns, the newcomers are coming under a spotlight like they have never seen.

Supporters of the bill are streaming into their offices one day, then tea-party protesters the next. Their phone lines are jammed with calls. They have sat in the Oval Office and taken calls with Obama, or been locked in conversation with Pelosi on the House floor for big chunks of time.

In Pennsylvania, second-term Democrat Jason Altmire had airplanes flying over his district with banners urging him to vote against the bill.

One district over, freshman Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper said she was outraged with an anti-overhaul television ad in her district that questioned her commitment to fighting cancer, even after she lost both her parents to the disease in the last month. The ad, run by a group called Americans for Prosperity, features a breast-cancer survivor and suggests that she might not be alive under the new health-care bill.

Others, like freshman Rep. Mike McMahon (D., N.Y.), have had local labor leaders relay the not-so-subtle hint that another vote against health care would cut them off from any election help this fall.

Driehaus, who is facing a tough reelection campaign, said he was stunned when he saw the negative Cinninnati Enquirer ad showing him with his two young girls. The Committee to Rethink Reform, the Washington advocacy group behind the ad, has since apologized, calling the photo a mistake.

Driehaus said the ad was indicative of hostility he has experienced on the issue, from angry town-hall meetings to protesters yelling at his staffers. "I just think the use of members' children is out of bounds," he said. "I just don't understand how they believe that's of benefit to their cause."

Driehaus said he has made his position clear to anyone who will listen, including fellow Democrats: He will support the bill only if it includes a stronger prohibition on federal money being used to pay for abortion.

He is "happy to have a conversation" with the president, he said. But like others, he insists he won't be swayed by arm-twisting.

Rep. Brad Ellsworth of Indiana, a two-term Democrat now running for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh, says, "I pay no attention to the arm-twisting. People sent me up here to study it till you bleed, read it till you bleed, and then make the best decision based on what you learn."

Ellsworth said he has been getting plenty of calls, including one from Obama last week, but still has reservations on issues including abortion funding.

"I have to be able to put my head on the pillow at night and say I did it in good faith, and that this is the best way to go," he said.