President Obama's signature on the Affordable Care Act.
The handful of Senate Democrats up for reelection in 2014 in tough states have decided to embrace Obamacare, taking the opportunity of its implementation coinciding with the midterm elections to remind constituents of its benefits and to
make sure they understand and can use them.
Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina will face voters in 2014 for the first time since voting for the Affordable Care Act – also known as "Obamacare" – three years ago. They aren't apologizing for their vote, and several are pursuing an aggressive strategy: Embrace the law, help voters use it and fix what doesn't work.
"I don't run from my votes," Begich told The Associated Press. "Politicians who sit around and say, `That's controversial so I better run from it,' just ask for trouble. Voters may not always agree with you, but they respect people who think about these issues and talk about them." [...]
"There's a lot of good that people will realize as this all comes online," the first-term senator said.
It's the only strategy that will work to defang the Republicans on the issue in 2014—making the law work, and making sure that Republican lies about it are exposed. To that end, Organizing for Action is
unrolling a big education campaign on the airwaves. Given that consistent majorities, while not so thrilled with the law itself, are
fed up with continued repeal efforts, it wouldn't hurt Democrats to hammer on that a bit, as well.
Making sure the law is implemented as smoothly as possible, though, will be key for many voters. Plenty will see nothing change at all, except the good stuff. Nothing will change for many who will remain on exactly the same plan except what they've already seen; they don't have to pay copays for preventive care, they can keep their adult children on their plans until age 26, and if their children have pre-existing conditions, they can still get coverage for them. For those who will be on the exchanges, the kinks need to be worked out early on. Here's one silver lining of so many Republican governors deciding against setting up their own state exchanges and leaving it to the federal government: less opportunity for state-level sabotage.