GOP Attacks On Obamacare Fizzle In Key Senate Races (many Americans are benefiting from the law)

[cal04]

Last edited Tue Aug 19, 2014, 02:27 PM - Edit history (1)

Obamacare is fading as a cudgel against Democrats in key battleground races poised to determine control of the Senate, according to a new analysis by Bloomberg News.

Since the law's botched rollout last fall, Republicans have been licking their chops over the prospect of riding Obamacare failures to victory in the 2014 elections. But now that the law has recovered and is providing insurance coverage to millions of Americans, issue ads involving the health care law are slowly disappearing in key states like North Carolina, Louisiana and Arkansas.

In North Carolina, Obamacare was mentioned in 54 percent of issue ads in April; it fell to 27 percent in July, per data from Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group.

In Louisiana, Obamacare fell to 41 percent of top five issue ads in July; in Arkansas it dropped to 23 percent, according to CMAG. The issue dominated the airwaves in both states in April.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obamacare-attacks-fizzle-in-key-senate-races


Obamacare Losing Power as Campaign Weapon in Ad Battles
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-19/obamacare-losing-punch-as-campaign-weapon-in-ad-battles.html

(snip)
The shift -- also taking place in competitive states such as Arkansas and Louisiana -- shows Republicans are easing off their strategy of criticizing Democrats over the Affordable Care Act now that many Americans are benefiting from the law and the measure is unlikely to be repealed.

“The Republican Party is realizing you can’t really hang your hat on it,” said Andrew Taylor, a political science professor at North Carolina State University. “It just isn’t the kind of issue it was.”


Why Republicans Have Stopped Talking About Obamacare In Campaign Ads


(snip)
357,584 signed up for coverage the the federal exchange; 73,898 were determined to be eligible for Medicaid coverage. According to WalletHub, North Carolina’s uninsurance rate dropped by 2.96 percent from 19.64 percent to 16.68 percent.

(snip)
Arkansas
43,446 signed up for coverage through the federal exchange; 63,465 were determined to be eligible for Medicaid coverage. According to Gallup, “the rate of people without health insurance fell from 22.5 percent in 2013 to 12.4 percent in mid-2014.”

(snip)
Louisiana
101,778 Louisiana residents signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, but most of those enrollees already had coverage. According to one survey, “the percentage of uninsured in Louisiana dropped from 22.41 percent to 20.91 percent. That still leaves more than one of every five residents in the state with no insurance.”

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/08/19/3472905/more-proof-that-republicans-are-finally-accepting-that-obamacare-is-here-to-stay/

[ZombieHorde]

1. I'm glad the ACA is helping so many people. nt

[lpbk2713]

2. Maybe the voters are finally recognizing blustering bullshit when they see it.

Damn I hope so. It's been a long time coming.


And one special wish ... I hope Rick Scott gets a
big boot in the ass when all votes are cast.

[jwirr]

3. Wonder if they are beginning to understand that all of the obstructionism they have been doing is

going to be a problem if we can see that the country is educated about it.

[lolly]

4. Most people saw this coming, didn't they?

The reason the Republicans fought tooth and nail against implementation was that they knew once it got rolling, people would benefit from it and would credit Democrats.

If they had really believed it was doomed to fail, they would have stepped aside and let it crash and burn, knowing that everyone would blame Obama.

They fought so tenaciously--shutting down the government, making up death panel lies, taking it to Supreme Court to block--because they knew it would succeed.

[zipplewrath]

5. Kinda an outlier

Louisiana
101,778 Louisiana residents signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, but most of those enrollees already had coverage. According to one survey, “the percentage of uninsured in Louisiana dropped from 22.41 percent to 20.91 percent. That still leaves more than one of every five residents in the state with no insurance.”

This doesn't seem like the kind of shift that would cause much change in a political strategy. I suspect the shift has a lot more to do with the inability to write an ad that appeals to much more than the "faithful". I mean really, how do you pen an ad that goes something to the effect of "he gave people health insurance!!!!!"? Sure, if you already hate the ACA then yeah, but if you are some sort of swing voter or undecided or other marginal middle of the pack voter, where's the fear? Worse, if you're one of the 20.91 percent, mostly what you're gonna wanna hear is "when do I get mine", not an explanation of how they're going to repeal your one best chance.

[Motown_Johnny]

7. No Medicaid Expansion and poverty rate ~18.5%

Since the Medicaid expansion would cover people who's income is up to 133% of the poverty rate it is reasonable to assume that the vast majority of that 20.91% who don't have insurance would if the (R)s simply expanded Medicaid.


I can get deeper into the numbers if I needed, but it seems pretty obvious.


Democrats should be counter attacking now that Obamacare is popular. Every (R) who spoke out against it (all of them) should be beaten over the heads with their own words every chance we get.

[pinboy3niner]

6. Just saw a neighbor who was a critic of the ACA months ago, now is an enthusiastic supporter

I ran into him Monday night when we both happened to be taking a walk in the neighborhood at the same time. He walks with a cane, and I commented about how much better he's walking now. He started raving about Obamacare--in a positive way now, telling me how much he LOVES it.

Months ago he slammed Obamacare, repeating all the RW talking points and telling me he wasn't going to sign up. I spent some time debunking the nonsense and encouraged him to check out enrollment and see what it could do for him. I'm just finding out now that he actually did check it out and quickly enrolled.

Now he is especially happy, being on a very limited disability income, that since he enrolled with a full subsidy he hasn't had to pay anything.

[CatWoman]

8. sure wish these idiots here in Georgia would catch on

attack ads against Nunn regularly mention Obama, Obamacare or both

[MineralMan]

9. In Minnesota, Mike McFadden, who is running

for Senate against Al Franken, is persistently using Obamacare as his theme. In one ad, he says, "I'll never stop trying to take out Obamacare."

Beyond that, he hasn't taken any strong position on anything. He's all Obamacare all the time. Of course, he's also a teabagger moron.

Here's one his most moronic ads: