Turning what some view as a negative into a positive
Democratic Convention A Chance to Sell Obamacare
By Jill Lawrence, National Journal
Updated: September 2, 2012 | 6:01 p.m.
September 2, 2012 | 4:20 p.m.
The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, has been making a modest comeback since the Supreme Court ruled in June that it is indeed constitutional. It’s now a standard part of President Obama’s stump speech, right there with saving the auto industry and killing Osama bin Laden. And last week, senior adviser David Axelrod sent an unusually personal fundraising appeal about his daughter’s “intractable epilepsy” when she was seven months old -- a struggle he said “nearly bankrupted our family and burdened her with a pre-existing condition that threatened her future coverage.”
But the true measure of the controversial health law’s standing, with Obama and the public, will be how it is handled at the Democratic National Convention this week in Charlotte. The convention presents a high-profile opportunity for Obama and his party to do what they haven’t done before: Sell this law.
The Affordable Care Act won’t be ignored, as Mitt Romney’s similar Massachusetts law was at the Republican convention. The question is whether it will be glossed over or promoted in a prominent way. The answer seems to be somewhere in the middle. Obama campaign spokesman Adam Fetcher said the health law will be woven into a larger economic narrative of the Obama presidency. Obama and other speakers will contrast the historic accomplishments of the law with Romney’s vow to repeal it, Fetcher said, and delegates will hear from “real people” whose lives it has improved.
Several party strategists said that, as one put it, there’s tremendous energy behind going on offense. Pollster Stan Greenberg said he’d “absolutely” push Democrats to talk about the law. Another pollster, Geoffrey Garin, called the convention “the right forum” to let voters know about the act’s insurance reforms for consumers and tax breaks for small businesses, and to “set the record straight” on how the law treats Medicare.
(More here.)
By Jill Lawrence, National Journal
Updated: September 2, 2012 | 6:01 p.m.
September 2, 2012 | 4:20 p.m.
The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, has been making a modest comeback since the Supreme Court ruled in June that it is indeed constitutional. It’s now a standard part of President Obama’s stump speech, right there with saving the auto industry and killing Osama bin Laden. And last week, senior adviser David Axelrod sent an unusually personal fundraising appeal about his daughter’s “intractable epilepsy” when she was seven months old -- a struggle he said “nearly bankrupted our family and burdened her with a pre-existing condition that threatened her future coverage.”
But the true measure of the controversial health law’s standing, with Obama and the public, will be how it is handled at the Democratic National Convention this week in Charlotte. The convention presents a high-profile opportunity for Obama and his party to do what they haven’t done before: Sell this law.
The Affordable Care Act won’t be ignored, as Mitt Romney’s similar Massachusetts law was at the Republican convention. The question is whether it will be glossed over or promoted in a prominent way. The answer seems to be somewhere in the middle. Obama campaign spokesman Adam Fetcher said the health law will be woven into a larger economic narrative of the Obama presidency. Obama and other speakers will contrast the historic accomplishments of the law with Romney’s vow to repeal it, Fetcher said, and delegates will hear from “real people” whose lives it has improved.
Several party strategists said that, as one put it, there’s tremendous energy behind going on offense. Pollster Stan Greenberg said he’d “absolutely” push Democrats to talk about the law. Another pollster, Geoffrey Garin, called the convention “the right forum” to let voters know about the act’s insurance reforms for consumers and tax breaks for small businesses, and to “set the record straight” on how the law treats Medicare.
(More here.)
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