XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: total@fool.gov   
      
   The ad casts the candidate as a crusader to fix a flawed law,   
   invokes the broken promise about keeping health insurance you   
   like, and boasts that he “took the White House to task for the   
   disastrous” website. It swipes at Barack Obama’s signature   
   legislative accomplishment in a manner you might expect from the   
   President’s opponents.   
      
   The difference is that the commercial was cut by a Democratic   
   group on behalf of an incumbent Democrat. The new ad, released   
   on Wednesday by House Majority PAC to defend Representative Joe   
   Garcia of Florida, highlights the approach Democratic   
   strategists are adopting as they try to inoculate vulnerable   
   incumbents from the early struggles of the health-care-reform   
   law:   
      
   In an effort to rebut Republican attempts to tether Garcia to   
   the law, the spot notes that he is “working to fix” it — which   
   clearly suggests it’s broken. It notes Garcia’s vote to let   
   people keep their plan — a reference to Obama’s infamous pledge,   
   which turned out to be one he couldn’t keep. And it sets up the   
   South Florida Democrat as a White House antagonist.   
      
   The strategy of creating separation from the President’s health   
   care law is part of a pattern for House Majority PAC, a super   
   PAC supporting Democratic candidates in House races. Last month,   
   the group cut an ad lauding Arizona Representative Ann   
   Kirkpatrick for blowing the whistle “on the disastrous health   
   care website” that demonstrated “stunning ineptitude.”   
      
   House Majority PAC says the ads are designed to combat smear   
   campaigns orchestrated by conservatives against vulnerable   
   Democrats running in competitive districts. Both races are   
   listed as toss-ups by the Cook Political Report.   
      
   “The Koch brothers are spending unprecedented sums in an effort   
   to mislead voters and distort Democrats’ records and House   
   Majority PAC simply won’t let those charges go unanswered,” says   
   Andy Stone, the group’s communications director.   
      
   The commercials note that Garcia and Kirkpatrick fought to “hold   
   insurance companies accountable” and prevent them from denying   
   patients coverage because of pre-existing conditions. These are   
   popular provisions — and they are law because of Obamacare,   
   which the ads decline to note explicitly.   
      
   The purpose of the campaign is twofold, says a Democratic   
   strategist who works on House races. One is to highlight   
   positive aspects of the health care law. But the more obvious   
   and important function is to acknowledge broad frustration with   
   its rocky rollout.   
      
   “People are understandably upset and frustrated by the rollout   
   of the Obamacare website, and you have to talk to people where   
   they are,” says the Democratic strategist. “It’s important for   
   Democrats to establish that baseline level of credibility.” A   
   failure to do so could make a candidate look oblivious to the   
   public mood. It is, of course, difficult to make nuanced points   
   in a 30-second commercial, and the strategist said future ads   
   would do more to highlight the law’s benefits.   
      
   Republicans believe the bumpy debut of the Affordable Care Act   
   is a gift that will propel them to sweeping victories in   
   November. That conviction, Republican aides and strategists say,   
   is part of the reason the GOP is wary of becoming embroiled in a   
   divisive and distracting fight over immigration reform with the   
   midterms looming.   
      
   It also played a role in the House leadership’s decision to   
   capitulate on Tuesday by voting to raise the federal borrowing   
   limit without any strings attached, averting a skirmish capable   
   of diverting voters’ attention from health care.   
      
   Andrea Bozek, a spokeswoman for House Republicans’ campaign arm,   
   framed the ads conceding the law’s shortcomings as an admission   
   that the issue is a winner for the GOP. “If Democrats are being   
   forced to spend resources in February attacking Obamacare,” she   
   said, “then this is a very grim foreshadowing of what November   
   will bring.”   
      
   http://swampland.time.com/2014/02/12/obamacare-democrats-2014-   
   midterm-elections/?iid=sl-main-mostpop1   
      
       
      
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