Waterloo: The Democrats Doomed Themselves With ObamaCare

Four articles making this point.

The Weekly Standard:

A recent New York Times/CBS News poll shows, among other things, that more than twice as many Americans “strongly disapprove” of Obamacare (34 percent) as “strongly approve” of it (15 percent). Moreover, the poll shows that the vast majority — 82 percent — of those who disapprove of Obamacare (whether strongly or otherwise) want it to be repealed. In response to the poll, Politico opines that the “big takeaway…is just how much health reform has fallen off the radar as a 2010 campaign issue, not offering much of clear benefit to either party.” Wow.

The media is really amazing, isn't it? I don't even know who they think they're lying to anymore.

These are the people who say "trust our judgment." The people who think that this sort of unpopularity of Obama's signature "accomplishment" doesn't offer "much of a clear benefit to either party."

Keep that in mind -- the issue offers no clear benefit to either party -- while perusing this.

What’s the one issue that independent voters most strongly demand that a candidate get right? According to a survey of 1,000 independents (and likely voters) recently conducted by Democratic pollster Douglas Schoen and commissioned by Independent Women’s Voice, the answer isn’t “national security,” “taxes,” “immigration,” “the size of government and its level of spending,” “putting a mosque near Ground Zero,” “the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” or “the stimulus and bailouts” — all of which were listed as options. Rather, the answer is “health care reform.”

Nearly half (48 percent) of all independent voters said that even if a candidate otherwise held perfect views (in the eyes of the voter) — even if they “agreed with him on all other issues” (italics added) — they still couldn’t vote for him “if [they] disagreed with him on health care reform.” (Another 13 percent weren’t sure whether they could abide such a costly error in judgment or not.)

And what must the candidate’s position on health-care reform be? For 83 percent of the respondents who said their vote would hang in the balance, the candidate must oppose Obamacare. So, according to the survey, if you support Obamacare, you’ve just lost 40 percent (83 percent of 48 percent) of the independent vote — before any other issue is even addressed.

Joe Collins notes that "jobs" wasn't apparently listed, so that would probably top the list (almost definitely), but I'm citing this more for that last stat: If you support ObamaCare, you just lost the vote of 40% of independents, before any additional issues or positions are considered.

Even Politico -- sweet, dumb, predictable, litigious Politico -- wakes and sniffs at the fresh brewed political reality.

Rarely have so many political strategists been so wrong about something so big.

But when it comes to the health care bill, everyone from former President Bill Clinton on down whiffed on some of the more significant predictions.

Democrats would run aggressively on the legislation? Nope. Voters would forget about the sausage-making aspects of the legislative process? Doesn’t seem that way, as the process contributed to the sense that the bill was deeply flawed.

They tick down the dumbest predictions made about it.

Not a single Democrat up for reelection is running ads touting ObamaCare:

Politico writes, "[I]t appears that no Democratic incumbent – in the House or in the Senate – has run a pro-reform TV ad since April, when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ran one."

If you think about it, this is really quite incredible: 279 Democrats, House and Senate included, voted for Obamacare, and not one of them has been willing to publicize that fact in a single TV spot over the past four months in the midst of a congressional campaign? Apparently, the only Democrat who's running pro-Obamacare TV ads is President Obama, and he's funding them with your money.

I asked Michael Barone about the Democrats' full year of denial, about when they finally started to grasp that this was genuine outrage, a citizenry aroused.

He didn't answer that, but he did offer this explanation: The Democrats assumed all the Tea Party rallies and Town Hall confrontations were astroturfed and filled with Republican operatives, because that's precisely how they gin up their public displays of support.

They almost couldn't grasp the possibility that our rallies, unlike theirs, might be real.

Instead of Waterloo, I'll link the even-more-appropriate S.O.S.

And A Fifth: Even TNR. Even TNR.

You.

Really.

Should've.

Listened.

You exercised raw political power without regard to our opinions, just to show you could. We're stupid animals, you thought; these stupid animals will all fall in line when we tug on the leash hard enough.

No. And we're not just tugging back. We're going for your fucking throats.

You exercised raw political power.

Our turn, bitches.

posted by Ace at 05:08 PM

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