According to a memo obtained by the New York Times and others, the Republican strategic roadmap for the next several months is to continue hammering away at problems that have already been fixed or were never a very big deal in the first place. Some of the things they intend to focus on are an outright fabrication, such as website security.
WASHINGTON — The memo distributed to House Republicans this week was concise and blunt, listing talking points and marching orders: “Because of Obamacare, I Lost My Insurance.” “Obamacare Increases Health Care Costs.” “The Exchanges May Not Be Secure, Putting Personal Information at Risk.” “Continue Collecting Constituent Stories.”
They could have stopped at “Because of Obama.”
The idea is to gather stories of people affected by the health care law — through social media, letters from constituents, or meetings during visits back home — and use them to open a line of attack, keep it going until it enters the public discourse and forces a response, then quickly pivot to the next topic.
The August recess is the time of year that we typically witness the lowest common denominators among come out of the woodwork and demand birth certificates and impeachment at town halls, but if this report is accurate the upcoming Winter holiday recess could rival it.
On the other hand, Republican may return to work after the new year empty-handed because most people are either already insured through their employers, don’t care, were busy enjoying the holidays with their families, or have — gasp! — been helped by Obamacare.
Either way, I expect the media will remain focused on Glitch Gate for the next several months long after various glitches have been fixed.
Obamacare enrollment is already on the rise and even exceeding expectations in some states. Enrollment in Medicaid is exceeding expectations in states that have chosen to participate in the expansion.
If you read the memo and the full report from the Times, it’s clear that the GOP is relying on the media to help them move the debate in their favor at every step of the way. Their goal is to steer the media away from stories of success and towards stories of failure, many of which have already been exposed as fake.
I would like to see someone steal the camera at a town hall in Texas and ask why over 1.5 million people in the state are being denied access to Medicaid.