ANOTHER DEM BUCKS THE TREND ON HEALTH CARE POLITICS…. Following up on an item from yesterday, it’s actually pretty encouraging to see the recent shift in strategy for many congressional Democrats who aren’t afraid of health care reform. All of a sudden, we’re seeing a number of congressional Democrats run on, instead of away from, the benefits of the Affordable Care Act.
The latest example is Rep. Allyson Schwartz’s (D-Pa.) new ad, unveiled this week, touting her work on protecting children with pre-existing conditions from insurance discrimination — a key and popular provision in the Affordable Care Act.
And while this is a good ad with merit, the larger significance is the fact that a growing number of Dems have decided to stop hiding from one of their landmark achievements.
Just in the last few weeks, we’ve seen ads with a pro-ACA message from Sens. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Harry Reid (D-Nev.), and among House incumbents, Reps. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Scott Murphy (D-N.Y.), Dan Malloy (D-Conn.), Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.), and Dina Titus (D-Nev.).
What’s more, Brian Beutler noted this week that some candidates, including Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.), have touted at least parts of the Affordable Care Act during debate performances, and Reps. Steve Kagen (D-Wis.) and John Garamendi (D-Calif.) have published op-eds in their districts defending the law.
The conventional wisdom — the law is unpopular, so Dems don’t want to talk about it — certainly isn’t true everywhere.
