Can buzzwords win elections? They can if the words are ‘Obamacare’ and ‘unfunded mandates.’ The GOP in Georgia has already started a media carpet-bombing campaign with a TV ad in support of Gov. Nathan Deal. It ties Jason Carter to Obamacare, not so much with damning words as with dark, creepy visual tones and an ominous voice. Standard fare.
To date Carter has skated along, not having to say or do much except not be Nathan Deal. That just changed. Too ill-defined as a candidate, he’s already been caught flat-footed by some political pros, who are only too happy to define him on their terms instead of his. And Michelle Nunn is already wounded by implication, even before the Jack Kingston-David Perdue winner trains his guns on her and her at least tacit support of Obamacare.
Support or loath the federal Affordable Care Act – Obamacare – there’s simply no denying that it is political deadweight in 2014 Georgia politics. Polls show a majority of Georgians continue to hold an unfavorable opinion of the ACA, by some 25 points more than the percentage of those who favor it. The issue has the potential to neutralize anything else positive the Democrats can bring to the fight this fall.
Worse for Democrats, there is nothing Jason Carter or Michelle Nunn or any other Democrat running for statewide or congressional or local office in November can say to solve the problem of their being tied to Obamacare by dint of being Democrats.
Some Democrats off the record would tell you their party’s marquee candidates should say they support changes to Obamacare, and then offer a few. This would be miles better than repudiating Obamacare and therefore their own base – poorer people who badly need Obamacare, and blacks who support President Obama no matter what. The Democrats have got to get these people to the polls in November to have any chance of winning.
There’s discussion among some Democrats that Carter and Nunn and other Democrats should rally behind the campaign theme of Republican cold-heartedness on Medicaid expansion. This has the advantage of at least putting the GOP candidates on the defensive for a bit.
But the Deal campaign appears positively eager to debate this issue toe-to-toe. Medicaid expansion is an unfunded mandate. More magic buzz words in Peach State politics.
The political calculus of healthcare in Georgia is simple demographics. The regions with the greatest needs have the fewest votes. Especially rural south Georgia.
(There may be reasons to at least hope for these hospitals. New federal Medicare funds are apparently on the way, and some hospitals are pooling resources in regional associations. Remember, larger, often urban hospitals want the business of those people in rural areas who need the expertise of those same hospitals.)
Politically – or should we say electorally – the Democrats can only minimize the damage of having to debate two issues over the next months: healthcare and President Barack Obama. Are they shrewd enough for damage control?
