Obamacare: A new ballgame

Published April 5, 2014

by Gary Pearce, Talking About Politics, April 4, 2014.

Just as ObamaCare divides the nation politically, it divides Democrats strategically. Does it spell disaster in November, or can we score points with it?

The President took the ball to the basket this week. His message: 7-plus million Americans signed up. Millions of Americans can now get health care. Republicans are just obstructionists and have no plan to help people.

James Carville, for one, is arguing that Obamacare can be a winner in November.

“After Alex Sink was sunk in the Florida special congressional race in February, my fellow Democratic strategists went back to their get-out-the-vote strategy and feared another 1994 or 2010 landslide election for the GOP. Well, Democratic voters might now be motivated to stand by the administration’s top legislative achievement more than ever — the same ABC/Post poll found that Democratic support for ObamaCare has reached 76 percent, which is up 11 percentage points from January. My fellow Democrats feared we didn’t have a motivating issue ... well, Republican opposition to the law, to no one’s surprise, is at 78 percent.

“I like being on the side of healthcare consumer. I think that is a winning argument for Democrats.”

Other Democratic strategists don’t believe the story arc has changed. It still isn’t a winner, and it won’t be, they say.

My guess – as I blogged last week (see “Move On”) – is that this issue, like a long-running TV series, is about to run down. By November, swing voters won’t know whether ObamaCare is good or bad or whether what’s bad about health care is due to ObamaCare or just the general screwed-up system we have.

Something else will happen. Crisis in Ukraine? Republican overreach? Another X Factor? ObamaCare is already baked into this cake. November is seven months away. We’ve got a long way to go.

http://www.talkingaboutpolitics.com

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April 5, 2014 at 9:23 am
TP Wohlford says:

I'm sure that some GOP guy in 1974 said that Watergate wouldn't hurt Republicans.

I DO recall that the GOP people said that the Iraq war won't hurt much in 2006, and the GOP would hang on to both the House and the Senate.

So yeah, I'm sure that people like me, who lost both their job AND their health insurance due to ACA, will forget and forgive by November, and vote for a Senator who won't even return phone calls when constituents call for help.

yup, I'm sure.

April 5, 2014 at 10:29 am
Norm Kelly says:

It's always fun to read Gary's posts. Most of the time because it makes me laugh so much. Some of the times because it's so sad to see so much kool-aid being drunk without making the drinker sick!

Take, for instance, repeating White House statistics as if they mean something. Like 7million people enrolling in Obamacare. Can the White House or the parrots like Gary define how many of those 'enrollees' are paid health insurance buyers? Can the White House or the parrots define how many of those 'enrollees' were previously uninsured vs how many moved from another insurance source? Can the parrots define how many of those 'enrollees' are subsidized vs how many of them pay for their own insurance? Can the parrots define for us how many of those 'enrollees' were eligible for government-issued insurance before but never bothered to sign up, for whatever reason?

Most importantly, the numbers are extremely skewed. Remember that around 5 million people are estimated to have had their private-pay insurance plans cancelled because of Obamacancer. So, 5 million forcibly thrown off their existing, chosen health insurance plan and 7 million 'enrolled' in Obamasocializedmedicine. This is to be celebrated? Then consider that many of those who have 'enrolled' in Obamascare have had their benefits reduced, their co-pays increased, their deductibles increased, their premiums increased, some combination of these or in some cases, all of these. How is this better for ANYONE?

Some of the Demoncrat voters who are polled about their 'feelings' on Obamacancer would say nothing but good things about it anyway. They are Demons to the core and will give credit to Demons just because it was their plan. Too many polls however show that the average Demon voter pays ZERO attention to anything political, doesn't understand the central planners, and vests the central planners with all kinds of power & concern/care.

If Obamascare continues on it's current trajectory, even more people will be negatively affected before voting day. This will translate into higher turn out for Republican/conservative voters & candidates. This will translate into lower turn out for Demon nominees running for any elected office. The central planners know that continued roll out of Obamasocializedmedicine will translate into losses for the demons from the central planner level right down to county dog catcher. This is the ONLY reason His High Holiness is violating the law and changing deadlines. If the deadlines are moved beyond the election the occupier is hoping people won't remember how bad socialized medicine has affected them & their neighbors. Parrots like Gary will continue to spin bad news in the positive direction because they believe in socialized medicine first & foremost. These parrots & the occupier are more interested in socialized medicine than they are in improving health care for ANYONE. Simply looking at the results so far, as well as what's already planned will show that care will be reduced, costs will go up. But at least everyone will have SOME coverage.

April 5, 2014 at 3:26 pm
TP Wohlford says:

But I'm sure that this won't be an issue in the next election, right?