Posted on 10/26/2013 12:25:04 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The Affordable Care Act is casting a shadow over Democrats’ chances in Senate battleground states, putting pressure on vulnerable Senate Democrats to distance themselves from the law’s clumsy rollout.
Five vulnerable Democratic incumbents who this week called for extending the law’s enrollment period and delaying penalties for not signing up on time come from states where voters hold unfavorable views of the law.
Some Democratic strategists, however, argue the issue is not as potent as Republicans think and predict it could boomerang on conservatives who have pushed for a full repeal of the law without offering detailed proposals to replace it.
Republican-sponsored and independent polls in Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire and North Carolina show the law is significantly more unpopular than popular.
Internal NRSC polling in New Hampshire from late September showed 40 percent of respondents approve of the law compared to 54 percent who disapprove. Within those categories, 47 percent strongly disapprove and only 27 percent strongly approve.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) asked Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius in a letter dated Oct. 22 to extend the open enrollment period beyond the current end date of March. 31, 2014. Shaheen shared her concerns about the law with White House officials in April. She warned then that many small businesses in her home state do not know how to comply with the law.
A Democratic strategist pointed to a New England College poll conducted Oct. 7 - 9 that showed 58 percent of 1063 registered voters in New Hampshire support the Affordable Care Act.
Internal polling conducted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee in May showed that only 32 percent of respondents in Alaska support the law while 59 percent oppose it. Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), who faces a tough re-election, signed Shaheen’s letter to Sebelius and has sponsored legislation to delay ObamaCare’s employer mandate for two years.
Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), who are on the Republicans’ 2014 target list, also signed the letter.
An OnMessage survey conducted in mid October for Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) showed that only 33 percent of likely voters in Arkansas favor ObamaCare while 62 percent oppose it.
“It’s theoretically possible for the administration to iron out the kinks of this program and opposition could fade but that seems highly unlikely,” the pollster, Wes Anderson, wrote in a memo to Cotton’s campaign. “It’s far more likely that the issue will remain a serious hurdle for Sen. Pryor all the way through Election Day.”
A poll by Magellan Strategies, a GOP-affiliated firm, found that 60 percent of voters are less likely to support Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) because of her support for ObamaCare. The survey manipulated the answer, however, but noting in its question that the law “increased insurance premiums by 88 percent for people who buy their own health insurance.”
An Elon University Poll from September found that half of respondents believe ObamaCare will make the healthcare situation worse in North Carolina and only 27 percent of independents think it will make it better.
Already one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — who is not up for re-election next year — has said he will co-sponsor legislation with Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) to delay the mandate for a year.
Senate Democratic aides say Republicans have exaggerated the split in their caucus. They argue that extending the enrollment period is a minor change that would not undermine the structure of ObamaCare.
“Democrats are not divided on ACA, some just want to be proactive about making clear they think there are issues that need to be tweaked,” said a senior Democratic aide. “No one thinks it’s perfect, but no one wants to repeal it or do anything major that could harm its long-term prospects for success.”
The aide said Senate Democratic leaders, however, do not plan to support efforts to delay penalties beyond what the administration has already announced.
Democrats are trying to turn the issue to their advantage by drawing a bright line between their proposals to improve it and Tea Party-fueled calls to repeal the law entirely, including popular provisions such as the one allowing children to remain on their parents health insurance until age 26.
“Only 30 percent of the public supports the Republican position calling for a full and total repeal of the law and a continuation of the same types of partisan fights that shut down the government,” said Matt Canter, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
NRSC spokesman Brad Dayspring said public opinion in battleground states is what counts most.
“When you go into each of these key 2014 states people are overwhelmingly opposed to ObamaCare,” he said. “They know full well just how unpopular ObamaCare is in these states. That’s why the DSCC was encouraging their candidates to back away from the law and start supporting extending the enrollment period.”
I’m calling four senate races for Republicans early
Arkansas
Montana
South Dakota
West Virginia
Just 2 more.
They should have read the bill BEFORE they passed it. Unfortunately, you can’t fix stupid.
Go GET THEM Tea Party Candidates!
They should have read the bill BEFORE they passed it. Unfortunately, you can’t fix stupid.
Agree. The question the MSM won’t ask them , followed by why didn’t you support any of the House proposals, or Ted Cruz.
The last thing they want is for all this to be blowing up in their faces during the 2014 mid-term campaign. Let it be so.
Replace it?
If you put up warning signs at a railroad crossing to prevent a crash why would you configure something somewhere else to replace the crash?
.
Obamacare getting implemented is LIKE.. having a dead body in your living room...
Stuffs the smell right up democrats NOSES..
What are you going to DO WITH THAT THING!...
Can’t call the givernment to come and take it away...
The givernment is forcing YOU TO SMELL IT.. or be FINED..
Is this fine entertainment OR WHAT?..
It is going to. I wondered why the relatively safe Jeanne Shaheen in New Hapshire was sounding the alarm. Then I looked at that map of increasing insurance premiums, and realized exactly why. New Hampshire is in critical condition in terms of skyrocketing healthcare costs.
Think back to the 2010 wave. It reached Defcon 1 for Democrats as even the despicable Senator Boxer looked like she might be in real trouble. Unfortunately, she survived.
Shaheen is no Boxer, and New Hampshire is no California. If a 2010 re-hash occurs, Shaheen may well find herself out of a job.
SC?
MS?
Yeah. That's what I was thinking. Instead, why not bring back the Welfare to Work program so people can just go back to earning their own insurance?
We don't need to replace anything. It never should have passed anyway. Buying insurance isn't any of the governments business.
See tag line.
The sticker shock for Obamacare plans and thousands now getting cancellation notices from their insurance companies ought to be a wake up call. The GOP should be running ads with Obama’s sound bites about how we could keep our current plans, doctor and save $2,500 per year to expose his lies.
I so want Louisiana! Maybe?
Yes, I want those ‘Democrats’ to lose too ;)
I looked into the Louisiana election process yesterday.
Did you know they don’t have primaries???
They skip primaries and go straight to the general, and then have a general runoff election if nobody gets over 50.
What you might end up with is Landrieu’s race being the decider, her getting under 50%, and then control of the senate not decided until weeks later in a runoff with the closest contender. Something tells me we’d crush her in a one-off runoff election
Are we supposed to feel sorry for them? Really?
I did not know they don’t have primaries. Interesting! I think she is ripe for the picking. The Republican candidates are Bill Cassidy and Rob Maness.
About the 1:00 mark of the video he starts talking strategy: “the path to victory” - don’t take advice from the New York Times on how the Republican party can save itself - we need to unify - we need to come together - growth and freedom are principles and ideals that unify the Republican Party - the evangelical community with the liberty movement, with the business community - growth and freedom bring together Main Street and the Tea Party.
If we get back to our core principles that’s how you reassemble and keep strong Ronald Reagan’s 3 legged stool....... then he describes how it has been done (wrongly in recent losing elections) and how that didn’t work - got our clocks cleaned (except the grass roots campaign in 2010 and our stand against Obamacare and for growth and freedom won elections up and down the ticket)............you don’t win races by keeping your heads down......
Poppycock: run to the right in the primary and run to the middle in the general - if you do that you destroy every reason for voters to show up and vote for you...... Cruz continues in the vein of “why this fight is worth it” (worth a listen). We must focus on “opportunity” - the biggest lie is that the Republican Party is the party of the rich..........continues.....
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