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Townhall
New
Dem Strategy: Stop Running From Obamacare
Daniel
Doherty
Apr
17, 2014
Can
Obamacare be fixed? Vulnerable Democrats are pot committed to this
idea. They say most Americans do not want to repeal Obamacare and
therefore the only way to make it work is to reform it. They accuse
Republicans of not having a viable alternative and wasting billions
of dollars on failed efforts to defund it. As a consequence, some
Democrats are urging the party to stand firm on this issue, and to
stop running way from a law many of them voted for.
The
AP reports:
Republicans
already were pushing their luck by vowing to "repeal and
replace" the health care law without having a viable replacement
in mind, said Thomas Mills, a Democratic consultant and blogger in
North Carolina. Now, he said, Democrats have even more reasons to
rise from their defensive crouch on this topic.
"Democrats
need to start making the case for Obamacare," Mills said. "They
all voted for it, they all own it, so they can't get away from it. So
they'd better start defending it."
Even
some professionals who have criticized the health care law say the
political climate has changed.
"I
think Democrats have the ability to steal the health care issue back
from Republicans," health care industry consultant said Bob
Laszewski said. "The Democratic Party can become the party of
fixing Obamacare."
Perhaps.
But is this a wise strategy? That is, campaigning on Obamacare if
you’re a vulnerable Democrat? A Bloomberg poll released last month
suggests it isn’t:
According
to the poll, 73 percent of respondents who said they would repeal the
health-care overhaul known as Obamacare say the law will be a "major"
factor in their vote. And 73 percent said they will "definitely"
vote in this year's midterm elections.
By
contrast, 45 percent of respondents who support modifications and 33
percent of those who support the law as it currently stands said
Obamacare will be a "major" factor in how they vote.
Meanwhile, 61 percent and 54 percent of those groups' respondents,
respectively, said they will "definitely" turn out to vote.
At
the same time, large swaths of the progressive...
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