Maybe If We Just Avoid Talking About ObamaCare, People Will Like It
Two weeks ago, Politico broke the news that a major coalition of liberal supporters of the health care overhaul was telling activists not to mention deficit or cost reductions when attempting to sell people on the bill. Now, Politico reports, another major liberal health care activist group, Health Care for America Now, has an even better strategy for helping out the politicians who voted for the bill: Maybe just avoid talking about the law entirely!
The progressive coalition Health Care for America Now fought hard to pass health care reform. Now it's fighting hard to help reelect lawmakers who voted for the bill — even if it means not talking about it.
While polls show that health reform has become slightly more popular since passage, it's still a polarizing issue, particularly in districts where Republicans and conservative groups have bombarded voters with negative ads.
Now, HCAN's field crews are finding that the best way to support reform-friendly lawmakers is to talk about something else: jobs, the economy or other issues likely to resonate more with voters.
The article goes on to note that "what HCAN describes as a tactical shift, reform opponents see as proof that the law is unpopular, a loser for Democrats in a tough election cycle." Hmm, I don't know. Which could it be?
I'll just note that one of the few polls to show an uptick in support for the law over the summer just reported a seven-point dip in favorability during the month of August, dropping support levels back to where they were in May.