Dems Better Say It Loud; We Support Obamacare And We’re Proud

[doxydad]

As a past navigator (and hopefully another shot at it next Fall!) I can tell you that the ACA has done a tremendous service for under insured / uninsured and Dems shout be hailing it instead of trying to hide the law! I will never understand why they are afraid of this historic and needed law? ......"because even if Democrats begin to come off the fence and stand with the President in support of his historic achievement, using it to (hopefully) propel more Democrats to victory in 2014, Democrats still must confront this recurring tendency we have of being our own worst enemy. Because say what you want about right-wing Republicans, they may have their internal struggles as all organizations do, but they still do a hell of a job rallying around whatever perverse little talking point they choose to promote for the upcoming news cycles...."

Own this. I am proud to have been a teensy little part, and as Progressives, WE OWN THIS.


http://www.politicususa.com/2014/04/20/dems-loud-support-obamacare-proud.html

[merrily]

1. Regardless of whether Obamacare is great or not, it's the only 2014 election strategy with a hope.

Enough about it is good--and enough about trying to repeal it without a substitute is horrific--that Democrats have more than just one leg to stand on. Let the people at the Republican primaries who applauded Ron Paul when he referred to an uninsured person dying at the door of the Emergency Room try to defend those repeal attempts to the general voting public.

I say that because I believe it, not because I believe Obamacare was actually the best that could have been done at the time. I have no interest in re-living 2009-2010 though. It is what it is, and it's far superior to anything the Republicans have offered, which is nothing. It doesn't have to be perfect to defeat Republicans, only better than the non-existent Republican plan they keep referring to, but never try to pass or even describe with any specificity.

ETA: Not only do I believe that running on Obamacare is the way for Democrats to win, I also believe that apologizing for it is an invitation to lose an election in a red or purple jurisdiction to a Republican. It may not be a 100% risk, but it's a risk of respectably magnitude, especially if the Democrat voted to pass Obamacare.

[Sunlei]

2. "we’ve been having a political fight about this for five years. We need to move on to something else

"With respect to the Affordable Care Act, my point is that we’ve been having a political fight about this for five years. We need to move on to something else. That’s what the American people are interested in. I think that Democrats should forcefully defend and be proud of the fact that millions of people like the woman I just described who I saw in Pennsylvania yesterday we’re helping because of something we did. I don’t think we should apologize for it, and I don’t think we should be defensive about it. I think there is a strong, good, right story to tell.

I think what the other side is doing and what the other side is offering would strip away protections from those families and from hundreds of millions of people who already had health insurance before the law passed, but never knew if the insurance company could drop them when they actually needed it, or women who were getting charged more just because they were a woman. I’m still puzzled why they’ve made this their sole agenda item when it comes to our politics. It’s curious.

But what I intend to talk about is what the American people are interested in hearing: Our plans for putting people back to work; our plans for making sure our economy continues to innovate; our plans to make sure that, as I discussed yesterday, we’re training people for the jobs that are out there right now and making better use of our community colleges and linking them up with businesses; and how we’re going to continue to bring manufacturing back the way we have over the last several years; and how we’re going to put more money in the pockets of ordinary people.

So if they want to -- if Republicans want to spend all their time talking about repealing a law that’s working, that’s their business. I think what Democrats should do is not be defensive, but we need to move on and focus on other things that are really important to the American people right now...........

4/17/2014 President Obama
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/04/17/press-conference-president-41714

[doxydad]

3. TeapubliKKKans will NOT move on...

They're still trying to undo the Law. Foolish? Absolutely. But they are playing to their rabid, fanatical 'base'. that's what matters to them. Thanks, Gerrymandering, you work well with others!

[Sunlei]

4. you're right.It is puzzling.Many republicans should want insurance that doesn't dump a sick person.

I’m still puzzled why they’ve made this their sole agenda item when it comes to our politics. It’s curious. BHO

[RussBLib]

5. Dems have a golden opportunity...

...to run on the merits and plusses of the ACA. I have to hope they don't cower and cave to the constant right-wing attacks on the ACA. I think the Dems are doomed if they try to run away from it.