Are Democrat Senate Races and Obamacare Fixable?

If I were to write a campaign jingle for vulnerable Senate Democrats, it would go like this.

Change it.

Rearrange it.

Fix it.

But don’t nix it.

I say his because of the jumble in the political jungle. Although Americans oppose ObamaCare by 51% to 38% on average in national polls, Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies found 54 percent of respondents say they want lawmakers to repair ObamaCare, while 28 percent say they want to eliminate it. Another 17 percent say they want the law to remain as is. Still, Real Clear Politics predicts the GOP will win the Senate by a 53-47 margin.

According to the latest polls, with 12 days to go before midterm elections, Democratic Senators are vulnerable but their races are close enough to be fixable.

• Mark Udall, Colorado, trails 47% to 44%

• Mark Begich, Alaska, behind 48% to 45%

• Jeanne Shaheed, New Hampshire, ahead 48% to 45%

• Mary Landrieu, Louisiana, trails 48% to 43%

• Kay Hagan, North Carolina, in lead by 46% to 44%

• Mark Pryor, Arkansas, behind 47% to 41%

The key for Democrats to fixing their races may lie in changing and rearranging their relationship to the President and to ObamaCare itself. The Senators have responded in different ways – by distancing themselves from the President, by not inviting him to their campaign events, by not admitting they voted for him, by not mentioning they voted for ObamaCare, by simply not mentioning him by name, by saying they will fix the health law but not replace it or repeal it.

In a Real Clear Politics video, Chris Matthews, that stalwart Obama supporter, takes umbrage at Democrats for refusing to say they voted for Obama by saying “It’s like Obama had Ebola.”

The New York Times, the pro-Obama litmus test and the Bile of Liberalism, complains of a “Democratic Panic.”

A Republican backed American Commitment ad headline reads, “Democrats Will Never Fix ObamaCare.”

Karl Rove, who has been called the " Republican Architect,” “Bush’s Brain.” and the “Texas Terminator,” writes an article in today’s WSJ entitled “ObamaCare Returns as an Election Albatross,” citing waves of policy cancellations and price increases as portents of doom for Democrats on election day. Rove chortles,” Democrats created ObamaCare, passed it , own it, and will suffer because of it. The holy grail of liberalism for decades, the present health law may end up as a decisive cause of two epic midterm defeats for the Democratic party.”

I would not be so sure. The Democratic albatross is a sea bird that can stay aloft for decades, feeding on Republicans in its talons. President Obama and his formerly fellow Democrats are masterful politicians, capable of flying high and seizing victory out of the beaks of defeat.


(Doctor Reece, author of over 3600 Medinnovation blogs over the last 7 years, with over 2.1 million readership views, is available for speaking engagements on the future of health reform. For more information, call 1-860-395-1501 or write doctor.reece@gmail.com)