How do Democrats make the ACA a winning issue??

[kentuck]

Because the Republicans plan on running against Obamacare, just like they did in 2010, and they expect to take over the Senate in the process.

Because Republicans have nothing to offer as a substitute for Obamacare, except the old system, where the insurance companies could drop you without an explanation if you had a pre-existing condition, and where they could set limits on how much you were permitted in insurance coverage, where you had to spend all your savings and sell your home and file bankruptcy, to make the extra payments the insurance companies refused to pay, where your teenager could not be kept on your insurance until age 26, where if you were older and on Medicare, you had to pay higher prices for drugs than others in your age group - because of something called the "donut hole".

Not to mention the more than 5 million that have signed up under the new law. Republicans are very good at propaganda and they want their "low information voters" to believe that they will fix the healthcare system. They have no such plans.

I would say, "Be careful before you throw the hated "Obamacare" overboard. You need to think of your children and your family before you go off in a partisan tizzy reciting "news" you have heard on the FOX Network." It is too important to be played for a fool."

As everyone knows, there is a lot that can improved with the ACA law. But Republicans do not want to help fix it - they want to repeal it entirely. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, need to understand this issue outside of Party parameters. Ask your Republican Congressman what you get in return if Obamacare is repealed??

[Loudly]

1. Need to ramp it up to a campaign on Medicare for All.

Medicare for All is the only antidote for all that is wrong and perceived to be wrong with the ACA.

Failure to campaign on Medicare for All will mean electoral disaster for Democrats in 2014 AND 2016.

[kentuck]

2. You may be right.

I'm sure big Democrats in Washington are reading this.

[ancianita]

3. Your reminders are the best selling point.

[HereSince1628]

4. Why run just on ACA? Running on history won't really help new candidates trying to flip districts

or turn red senate seats blue.

I think ACA is great for people already in congress, they can claim all it's good things (and people will come to see the good things) are because of their support for it.

Turning the house blue requires the promise of new things...maybe a new national minimum wage, maybe a program to naturalize long time immigrants and their children who are undocumented.

Rallying people around WAR worked for the Cheney administration. I won't go so far as to endorse promotion of a NEW COLD WAR as a means to elect people, but I bet it would work in many places.

[kentuck]

7. True, unless...

the new candidate's opponent is running against Obamacare. If we are going to keep it, we should be able to defend it.

[canoeist52]

5. Allow the health insurance "deductables" to sunset some time before November.

People know that they are a scam making insurance too expensive to use.

[Wounded Bear]

6. We don't....

We say, "Obamacare is the law of the land. It already works. It's working. We're moving on to other important issues."

[kentuck]

8. Hmmmm...

Just ignore it?

[Wounded Bear]

9. Didn't say that, but...

The Repubs are running to repeal it. Our pat answer should be as I stated, using various forms.

"We won that debate. Obamacare is working. Next question."

"Six million people have been covered with this. Repubs are running on taking their coverage away. We're running to get people jobs and make sure they pay good wages."

"Republican governors denied coverage to X million people because of ideology. We want to expand that so citizens in red states can have the same benefits of a modern society as those in blue states."

I think there's many ways to "not" run on Obamacare while supporting it and moving the debate to something else.

[kentuck]

11. Thanks for the clarification.

[Johonny]

10. I suggest they run on it if only to force the media to cover what is in the bill

instead of all the BS they usually cover.

1)Run on the ACA bill as it stands

2)Run on how the bill could be made more liberal if only voters placed people like you in congress.

3) Highlight over and over your opponent has no plan. Voting for them isn't to fix the broken health care system it is a vote for failure to produce a health care system.

4) Run a national campaign highlighting from national security, economics and healthcare Republicans failure to produce anything on any level. THEY HAVE NO PLAN FOR AMERICAS FUTURE. Talking about Ronald Reagan isn't a plan.

5) Then allow district candidates to float in space around the national narrative. You need to accept regional candidates that can win tough districts even if they differ in a core narrative.

This should at least prevent the failure of 2010 when so many Democratic candidates simply floundered in no mans land. They ran neither for what they accomplished, nor against their opponent and without a national narrative being pushed by the party many failed to launch at all.