GOP Strategist: “Republicans can’t afford to litigate health care for the second election in a row”

Republicans Double Down On Toxic Health Care Agenda In Midst Of Deadly Global Pandemic

A week after Republicans moved forward with their lawsuit to tear down pre-existing conditions coverage and President Trump said – on tape – “we want to terminate health care,” GOP strategists are now concerned their toxic health care record could cost them the election, with one telling CNN “Republicans can’t afford to litigate health care for the second election in a row.” 

“The GOP has made their position on health care clear: in the middle of a deadly global pandemic, Republicans have refused to hold the Trump administration accountable for their decision to keep the special enrollment period closed and enabled an irresponsible lawsuit that will spike health care costs and dismantle protections for pre-existing conditions,” said DSCC spokesperson Stewart Boss. “Every vulnerable Republican on the ballot in November is going to have to own their toxic record on health care.” 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

CNN: Democrats used health care to win big in 2018. They want to do it again this year

By Dan Merica and Ryan Nobles

May 11, 2020

Key Points:

• Democrats rode a conversation about health care to sweeping victories in 2018 and are keen to do it again this November.

• The debate, which helped the party take control of the House two years ago, rests on President Donald Trump’s repeated push to have the courts strike down the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s sweeping health care law that provided coverage to millions of Americans. But the coronavirus pandemic has further heightened the urgency, leading Democrats from former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign and top super PACs to argue Trump is looking to cut American’s health care in the middle of a global pandemic.

• The Trump campaign claims they are eager for the debate, citing Obamacare as an unpopular law that hurt Democrats during Obama’s presidency. But Republicans who saw up close how health care sunk their hopes two years ago warn how detrimental the debate could be to Trump and Republicans in November.

• “Republicans can’t afford to litigate health care for the second election in a row,” said a senior Republican strategist. “We saw how this turned out in 2018 and we didn’t have a global pandemic and economic depression to go along with it.”

• Democrats’ messaging on health care focuses on an upcoming Supreme Court hearing on the future of Obamacare, which pits Democrat-led states like California against the Trump administration and more red-states like Texas. Trump, despite concerns from Attorney General William Barr, has fully backed using the Supreme Court to attempt to fully nullify Obamacare.

• The issue for Republicans, though: While it is easy for them to downplay the popular aspects of Obamacare and amplify the problems with the program, they still do not have an alternative plan of their own, meaning Democrats can credibly say the party wants to take away health care from millions of Americans without a tangible replacement.

Read the full story here.

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