GOP Candidates Suddenly Find Love For Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion
The conventional wisdom is that Republicans running in 2014 will be campaigning against Obamacare, attempting to recreate the 2010 magic that saw them make massive gains in Congress and state governments, holding themselves in stark contract to Democrats who are responsible for what the GOP sees as a fatally flawed law.
That's the narrative, and that's what Republican strategists would have you believe. But comments -- or the lack thereof -- from some GOP candidates in state and national elections suggest that opposition might not be as ironclad as previously believed, as the Washington Post's Greg Sargent has documented. In at least one case, in fact, a Republican in one of the most competitive Senate races in the country effectively endorsed the expansion.
It's a huge shift from the "defund or repeal" mantra during the government shutdown of October, a possible indicator that some conservatives are recognizing that Obamacare is here to stay -- and that proposing to knock the newly enrolled off Medicaid is politically perilous.
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"Coverage is great and having more people covered is excellent," Capito said of the expansion. She included a number of caveats -- she's concerned about long-term costs -- but she simultaneously acknowledged that repealing Obamacare is likely an unachievable goal and that aiming to improve the health care reform law while keeping people insured is a preferable pursuit.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/2014-gop-candidates-medicaid-expansion