Byron York‘s latest Washington Examiner article explores the political reality facing those Democrats who voted for the recent federal health care reform legislation:
In passing the national health care bill, you accomplished something your party dreamed of for decades. It was your most important vote, and now is the time to take credit for it.
Except it’s not.
Recently a number of top Democratic strategists conducted focus groups in Las Vegas, Charlotte, Philadelphia and St. Louis. They also conducted a national poll of 1,000 likely voters and an online poll of 2,000 more likely voters. They wanted to measure the public’s feelings about Obamacare and help Democrats make an effective case for the bill they passed in March.
The researchers found what they call a “challenging environment,” which is a nicer way of saying “disaster in the making.” Voters simply aren’t buying the Democratic case that health care reform will insure more than 30 million currently uninsured people and save money at the same time. And when they think about their own health care, people worry that reform will mean less, not more, availability of care, and at a higher cost.
Faced with that bad news, the pollsters came up with several recommendations for Democratic candidates. When talking about Obamacare, Democrats should “keep claims small and credible.” They should promise to “improve” the law. They should avoid talking about policy and stick to “personal stories” of people who will benefit from Obamacare. And above all, the pollsters advise, “don’t say the law will reduce costs and deficit.”
It’s a stunning about-face for a party that saw national health care as its signature accomplishment. “This is the first time we’ve seen from Democrats that they clearly understand they have a serious problem in terms of selling this legislation,” says Republican pollster David Winston.
