Senate Republicans have given up on defunding Obamacare, but John McCain still thinks it’s going to be electoral gold. In 2016, not 2010. McCain started airing an ad attacking his Democratic challenger, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, on Obamacare last month, and this month a poll still showed him trailing her by two points. But seriously, Obamacare. It’s the answer to his problems, he thinks.
“I think it’s a very strong issue,” McCain told POLITICO about his focus on Obamacare. “Eight of the counties in my state will now only have one [health insurer]. They’re staring at 65 percent increases in their premiums. They’re very upset.”
That 65 percent increase only happens if regulators give the insurance companies everything they’re asking for; in the U.S. as a whole, premium increases between last year and this year were smaller than was routine in the years before Obamacare. Meanwhile the uninsured rate is at an all-time low and Latinos have benefited in particular, which is kinda relevant for Arizona—especially with Donald Trump on the ticket.