In case you'd forgotten over the course of a wild week, Obamacare is the empirically-failing, widely-unpopular law that Democrats jammed down the country's collective throat when they controlled everything in 2009 and 2010 -- peddling lies and bogus promises along the way. It's also the dysfunctional law of which a large plurality of Tuesday's (D+4) electorate disapproved. And now that they've been wiped out at the polls -- roughly one-third of all remaining House Democrats hail from just three states -- President Obama's party is vowing to go to the mat to fight efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare:
Shell-shocked Senate Democrats declare "total war" over Obamacare https://t.co/HGKnAtSY6z pic.twitter.com/qMc9ArR9Lw
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) November 10, 2016
First of all, the man pictured in that story's accompanying photograph won't be leading that "total war." In total denial about the law in question, he's leaving Congress, having repeatedly walked his members off the plank over this law -- resulting in the party's decimation. And that's not an exaggeration:
Pre-Obamacare:
— Alberto Martinez (@albertemartinez) November 10, 2016
29 D governors
257 D house members
57 D senators
Post-Obamacare:
18 D governors
192 D house
48 D senators https://t.co/33Clmkqtvk
The decimation of the Democratic Party, visualized https://t.co/E1f2OtWEkO pic.twitter.com/9uIPUAlp69
— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) November 10, 2016
One more, demonstrating the damage all the way down the line:
Put another way, GOP controls gov and/or a legislative chamber in 44 states. Full control in 25. Dems can say the same in 24. (Full in 6.) pic.twitter.com/KYHqtiFzjC
— Liam Donovan (@LPDonovan) November 10, 2016
In the 2016 election, Republicans at every level closed out the cycle by blasting Democrats over the fresh failures of Obamacare, which are hurting middle class consumers. Nowhere was this political weapon wielded more relentlessly than in Indiana. Democratic Senator Evan Bayh cast the deciding vote for Obamacare in 2009, then called it quits rather than facing Hoosier State voters in 2010. Then he decided he wanted his old seat back. Republicans and conservative groups pounded him with ads reminding voters of his role in the passage of Obamacare, and highlighting his out-of-touch aloofness and self-enrichment at the hands of monied special interests. In an extraordinary reversal of fortunes, he went from a 20-point favorite to a ten-point loser. Will Chuck Schumer be able to rally his minority caucus to rally around Obamacare over the next two years? Take a look at what Senate Democrats are facing in 2018:
As Senate Democrats ponder strategy, this is the gauntlet they're facing in 2018. *Nine* incumbents from Trump-won states: pic.twitter.com/v2m9sIeaPP
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) November 11, 2016
How keen will Senators such as Jon Tester (MT, Trump +20), Heidi Heitkamp (ND, Trump +36), Joe Minchin (Trump +42) and Joe Donnelly (IN, Trump +19) be to cross their constituents on Obamacare? Or to vote against Trump-appointed judges because their party's regional, left-wing base is fanatically opposed to gun rights and in favor of unfettered abortion? If I were a vulnerable Democrat, I'd be very seriously questioning the wisdom of my party elites' instincts and decision making. After all...
The DNC rigged their primary to guarantee Hillary, who got to run against the GOP nominee of her choice. And she lost. ??
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) November 10, 2016
GOP majorities in both houses voted to repeal Obamacare earlier this year. Obama vetoed the bill. Soon he'll be replaced by a president who has campaigned on eliminating the law, with those Republican majorities still intact.
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