GOP Senators: We're Kind Of Tired Of All The Focus On ObamaCare So Let's Give The Media And The Democrats Something To Attack Us On

You think the GOP can't get any dumber but they manage to surprise you.

Bill Kristol announces on FTN that Coburn, hosta and Burr will unveil a comprehensive GOP alternative to ObamaCare tomorrow.

— Alexandra Jaffe (@ajjaffe) January 26, 2014

Here's what's wrong with this approach without knowing a damn thing about it (beyond the fact that Orin hosta is involved).

Right now the focus is on ObamaCare and undoing the harm it's doing to individuals and the country as a whole. At this moment people identify as "ObamaCare opponents" and see other opponents as allies in the fight. This is the maximum number of people you will ever have united against ObamaCare. Once you start saying "not only are we against ObamaCare, we are for A, B and C" you start to fracture the anti-ObamaCare coalition and weaken it. You are taking a binary choice..supporters here, opoenents there and making it supporters vs. people who like the Senate GOP plan vs. people who don't like ObamaCare or the Senate GOP plan.

And once some GOP Senators release a plan, that makes it more likely that the House will release a plan so you will further fracture the unity of ObamaCare opponents. And best of all you'll fracture the GOP unity (such as it is).

Right now the media and Democrats have limited choices in covering ObamaCare...ignore it, pretend it isn't as bad as people know it is or complain that the GOP doesn't have a plan. Now the GOP will give them a new and exciting set of options...attacking the GOP plan (while pointing out how in some narrow areas ObamaCare might be better) and the differences in opinion among Republicans about what to do next. Which option do you think the media and Democrats will pick?

Republicans still hang on to this quaint idea that voters are moved by policy positions and white papers. Worst of all they think the media will accurately and fairly cover their policy positions and white papers. Neither is true.

And don't tell me the GOP has to run on something because Team GOP has spent the last year telling me you can't do anything affirmative with just the House (which will be amended to "you can't do anything affirmative with Obama in the White House" if the GOP gets the Senate).

There's zero upside to splitting the anti-ObamaCare coalition to push plans that will never become law while Obama is in the White House. Once again, the GOP is too stupid to understand reality.

posted by DrewM. at 11:28 AM

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