Dems do not want to talk about ObamaCare

Dems do not want to talk about ObamaCare

Health Care for America Now, is encouraging supporters of ObamaCare to avoid discussing ObamaCare entirely with voters.

The progressive coalition Health Care for America Now fought hard to pass health care reform. Now it’s fighting hard to help reelect lawmakers who voted for the bill — even if it means not talking about it.

While polls show that health reform has become slightly more popular since passage, it’s still a polarizing issue, particularly in districts where Republicans and conservative groups have bombarded voters with negative ads.

Now, HCAN's field crews are finding that the best way to support reform-friendly lawmakers is to talk about something else: jobs, the economy or other issues likely to resonate more with voters.

HCAN activists say they are not dodging their key issue; rather, they want to keep pace with voter concerns, which have markedly shifted over the past year.

But what HCAN describes as a tactical shift, reform opponents see as proof that the law is unpopular, a loser for Democrats in a tough election cycle. "Voters don’t like health reform and they know that,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former CBO director who now works with the American Action Forum on their Operation Healthcare Choice project. "Independents are key to control; health reform is unpopular but jobs and economy could move votes. When it comes to substance, on health reform, they’re in bad shape.”

Whether you like it or not, ObamaCare is a losing issue, as evidenced by polling, including a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation that shows the favorability of the “health care reform” law falling to 43%, with 45% disapproving of it. That’s not where you want to be nine weeks from an election.


It's going to be hard for a field worker from Health Care for America Now not to talk about ObamaCare when they are approaching an independent voter, an issue that 83% of Americans say is an important factor in how they will vote in November.