The last few months have seen a number of town halls held by Republican politicians turn into opportunities for constituents to clearly voice their displeasure with how things are going, leading to some canceling all town hall meetings. The passage of the American Health Care Act in the House of Representatives has increased the number of congressmen receiving boos at meetings, including Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador who uttered the infamous line “nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care” at a recent town hall.
Tasked with sticking to a promise to repeal Obamacare, even if it means doing so with an unpopular bill, and trying to assuage the fears of constituents who do not want to lose access to health care, Republicans have taken a number of measures including telling voters the Senate will fix everything and going so far as to not call it a “full repeal” of the Affordable Care Act.
According to WPA Intelligence, a conservative research and polling firm, a “full repeal” is extremely unpopular, which has led to Republicans repeatedly stepping on their own feet when discussing what is and isn’t in the bill. WPA recommends that Republicans in tight races “frame the election as a choice between ‘Obamacare’ and something that would keep the parts of the ACA that they liked while making coverage cheaper.” Further, the study says that people will care more about individual health care costs than the total number of people who will lose insurance.
(via Washington Post)