What had been a central issue in Republican debates in 2012 has barely registered in the first two debates of the 2016 election: Obamacare. There were no specific questions about it, no talk about replacement plans—it was
discussed only in asides.
Donald Trump made a quick reference to it during his introductory remarks, and Ted Cruz made his usual promise to repeal the law. But the only sustained discussion came in response to a question about the summer Supreme Court decision rejecting an anti-Obamacare lawsuit. And that was a conversation about Chief Justice John Roberts, his supposed act of heresy, and what kind of justices the Republicans would appoint to serve on the Court. Health care policy didn't come up.
That was largely true of the Fox debate as well. Obamacare repeal got the kind of lip service you would expect, but no real focus. But here's where healthcare policy should have come up—there should have been a question about whether any of the candidates had a specific plan for replacing Obamacare and how they would ensure that the successes of Obamacare—the millions insured, the savings to Medicare, the security it's offered—are not lost. But by now even the Fox and CNN moderators have probably realized that there would be no point to asking that, those Republican plans just don't exist. Why highlight that fact?
The omission definitely reflects that, even for diehard Republicans, the issue just doesn't have the resonance anymore. If you need anymore evidence of that, look at how repeal has been pushed to the back burner in congressional fights. House extremists and Sen. Ted Cruz aren't fighting to shut down government over repeal this fall—they're fighting to defund Planned Parenthood. A few months ago, the big plan was to force President Obama to veto a repeal vote by using reconciliation—the procedural mechanism that allows some bills to pass with just 51 votes. Now? Now they're talking about using it for Planned Parenthood defunding.
All of which reiterates one thing: Obamacare is here to stay. Even if we somehow end up with one of the clowns from last night's debate in the Oval Office, unwinding the law at this point isn't just not feasible, it's not going to be a priority.