Repeal Obamacare? Fuggedaboutit!
By Julian Zelizer, CNN Contributor
Editor's note: Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of "Jimmy Carter" and "Governing America." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- In American politics, there is strength in numbers. When enough people feel a vested interest in the survival of a program, it becomes extraordinarily difficult for opponents to dismantle it.
Obamacare, officially the Affordable Care Act, looks like it has just reached a critical tipping point.
While the program still faces many challenges and numerous Republicans remained determined to keep attacking, the news that 7 million people have enrolled through the health care exchanges is a big victory for President Barack Obama and his supporters. Medicaid enrollment rose by 3 million people, much of which is a result of ACA as well.
Rather than Obamacare being an abstract promise to Americans that will be fulfilled in the distant future, now the Affordable Care Act is a concrete program upon which millions of American voters will be depending. As that number increases, opponents of ACA will be going after the benefits of many millions of Americans -- not just the President.
There is a long history of government programs securing their political strength through sheer numbers.
(More here.)
Editor's note: Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of "Jimmy Carter" and "Governing America." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- In American politics, there is strength in numbers. When enough people feel a vested interest in the survival of a program, it becomes extraordinarily difficult for opponents to dismantle it.
Obamacare, officially the Affordable Care Act, looks like it has just reached a critical tipping point.
While the program still faces many challenges and numerous Republicans remained determined to keep attacking, the news that 7 million people have enrolled through the health care exchanges is a big victory for President Barack Obama and his supporters. Medicaid enrollment rose by 3 million people, much of which is a result of ACA as well.
Rather than Obamacare being an abstract promise to Americans that will be fulfilled in the distant future, now the Affordable Care Act is a concrete program upon which millions of American voters will be depending. As that number increases, opponents of ACA will be going after the benefits of many millions of Americans -- not just the President.
There is a long history of government programs securing their political strength through sheer numbers.
(More here.)
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