While Republicans should be taking a close look at that exit polling from Tuesday's special election in Pennsylvania, where Democratic Rep.-elect Conor Lamb pulled off a stunning victory, so should Democrats. Because Republicans—including popular vote loser Donald Trump—are still hellbent on sabotaging the law, and every sally against it needs to be fought tooth and nail.
Let's just recap what voters told PPP in the exit polling in Pennsylvania:
- 52 percent of voters said health care was a top issue for them—15 percent said it was the most important issue, another 37 percent said it was very important
- 64 percent of the people who said it was their top issue voted for Lamb, while 62 percent of the people who said it was very important supported him
- 44 percent of voters, in this district that voted for Trump by 20 points, said they support the Affordable Care Act
- 53 percent of voters said they oppose the Republican plans to repeal the healthcare law
- 48 percent say the Republicans are sabotaging the law and disapprove
- 59 percent think it should be kept in place with fixes made
This isn't the first time a Democrat won a tough election where health care was a top issue for voters. Let's go back to last November when 4 out of 10 voters in Virginia's election said that health care was their primary issue as they voted to elect Democrat Ralph Northam as governor. Also in Maine, where a Medicaid expansion ballot initiative won in a landslide.
Republicans aren't going to stop their assault on health—whether it's Obamacare or Medicaid or Medicare—and they are doing so at their political risk. But it means Democrats have to run hard on the issue. No compromises. No backing down on anything. Even if they're threatening a shutdown.