Look where repeal got this guy.
It seems that
Republican candidates for governor could be the first indicator that Republicans are finally in retreat on Obamacare in reality, if not rhetorically. But even behind the rhetoric
some reality lurks.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich says repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s dramatic Medicaid expansion is "not gonna happen," even if Republicans take control of the Senate. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader aiming for a promotion to majority leader, says Obamacare should be pulled out root and branch—except for Kentucky’s successful Obamacare website. His state's online marketplace is "fine," he said in a debate.
Conservative thinkers are starting to say what must not even be hinted at—yet—by conservative politicians. Avik Roy writes in Forbes that full repeal "will cause as many problems as it will solve. A better approach, in my view, is to gradually transition away from Obamacare …" David Frum, going even further, writes in Foreign Affairs that the center-right "must accept—and even welcome—that in the United States, as in every other developed country, universal health insurance is here to stay."
Not that the tea-bagger mentality that still dominates the core of the Republican base—or the Koch brothers—is going to listen to conservative thinkers. But even conservative-skewed pollster Rasmussen, according to this story, is finding erosion in the zeal for repeal among hardcore conservatives with "repeal" and "keep and fix it" polling evenly. (Reality-based Kaiser Family Foundation has
been finding that for a couple of years.)
Repeal is only real for the festering mess of extremists in the Republican base. And the Koch brothers. That means that Republicans will still make vague noises about getting rid of the law for at least the next election cycle. But they won't mean it then anymore than they really mean it now, when they know they can't make it happen.
Let's sink the final nails into the repeal coffin with more Medicaid expansion. Help elect Democratic governors do just that with your $3.
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And after the next cycle millions more will have signed up. Americans have gotten so used to the idea that they can't be dropped from their health insurance for no good reason that they won't remember a time when that could happen. When that's locked into our national psyche, Republicans will finally just have to let this one go.