“Health care is the most exciting thing that’s happened for the United States of America since the republic began,” Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY) beamed on Thomas Roberts’ MSNBC show Tuesday morning.
I hope he’s not planning on using this as one of his campaign slogans if the congressman hopes to win reelection next year. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, not the Industrial Revolution, not the Greatest Generation's victories, but President Obamas health care law, according to Rangel, is America's brightest achievement.
While acknowledging the rollout has been anything but a success, he nonetheless has high hopes for the ACA’s future.
“If the health care plan proved to be as bad as the rollout, we’ve shot crap. But as far as I’m concerned, the 50 million people that hoped, dreamed and prayed that one day they could get insurance no matter what their status was, this is going to start to roll in and all of those people who have been afraid to stand with the president I think will be making a great moral mistake, but more importantly, a great political mistake as well for 2014.”
I guess Rangel didn’t get the memo like some of his fellow Democrats in Congress that distancing themselves from Obama and his health care legislation is becoming the politically advantageous thing to do.
Roberts also asked Rangel to forecast his reelection campaign.
“It’s going to be a rough one, but, you know, it’s like shooting crap. Either you win or you lose; you just can’t stay even with the first shot.”
Based on his comments, it looks like his campaign is going to get even rougher.
Rangel wondered at one point whether the Republican Party has “given up on being a national party?”
No, but it looks like you just gave up on reelection.