The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe?

Posted on | November 25, 2013 | 47 Comments

One of the things you may have noticed in the past couple of weeks is that some liberal pundits are claiming that ObamaCare is essentially a public relations problem: The program is just wonderful, but there have been some P.R. problems with the rollout.

Democrats need to learn that denial is not the name of a river in Egypt:

Democratic leaders claim the bungled launch of Obamacare is just the latest news sensation — a media-stirred tempest that looks in the heat of the moment like it could upend the midterm election, but ends up fizzling well before voters head to the polls.
Some party strategists say they’re in denial.
And that perceived gap between party spin and facts on the ground is fueling worries that the White House and Democratic higher-ups aren’t taking the possible electoral blowback seriously enough or doing enough to shield their candidates. Democratic contenders in the toughest races are distinctly less convinced that Obamacare will fade as an election-year issue — and they can’t afford to just cross their fingers that things get ironed out or that Republicans revert to political hara-kiri.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said at a forum hosted by BuzzFeed recently that the rollout won’t “hurt us in 2014,” adding that “we’re proud” of the law. Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, in a recent appearance on CNN, went so far as to assert that Obamacare would be “an advantage” for Democratic candidates next year.
“Democrats will run on the Affordable Care Act and win,” she has also told reporters.
The White House, meanwhile, has come across as equally dismissive of Obamacare’s consequences for 2014.

Anyone who doubts the devastating impact of ObamaCare’s failure need look no further than NY-23 where Democrat Martha Robertson is trying to run away from her previous support of the policy. This is a “purple” district that, on paper, should be competitive for Democrats, but Robertson’s campaign is in complete meltdown mode. And speaking of complete meltdown . . .

We are starting to see a broad polling trend for Barack Obama, and it should have the White House worried — but maybe Obama’s fellow Democrats in Congress even more.  The latest CNN poll confirms what the Washington Post/ABC poll first noticed, and what the CBS poll corroborated — Obama’s approval decline involves more than just his performance.  The Americans public is souring on Obama as a person and as a brand, and that spells real trouble for his agenda . . . .

There are limits to what media spin can accomplish, and trying to tell people who lost their insurance that this is good news, that the president had a good reason to lie to them — that won’t sell.

 


Category: Barack Obama, Health Care

Comments

47 Responses to “Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe?”

  1. cagmcop
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:25 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: TOM Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/A9IOtjuDsL #TCOT

  2. MrEvilMatt
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:27 pm

    Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe?: One of the things you may have n… http://t.co/eOwS26GgIX

  3. CHideout
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:27 pm

    Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe?: One of the things you may have n… http://t.co/h23zDJVqEK

  4. Lockestep1776
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:27 pm

    Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe?: One of the things you may have n… http://t.co/Q4dcU8nGV7

  5. Resista38176897
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:27 pm

    Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe?: One of the things you may have n… http://t.co/D89ws4ZOmi

  6. Citzcom
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:27 pm

    Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe?: One of the things you may have n… http://t.co/ojxv8F2An8

  7. jwbrown1969
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:27 pm

    Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe?: One of the things you may have n… http://t.co/cbjIWXj2cv

  8. DarylT
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:29 pm

    @smitty_one_each yes, yes the do. If history is a guide they will succeed because most people are politically, socially disconnected.

  9. Kelloggie
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:30 pm

    RT @MrEvilMatt: Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe?: One of the things you may have n… http://t.…

  10. DougHarrisIII
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:30 pm

    @smitty_one_each Or course they do. Media will do most of the work FOR them anyway.

  11. rsmccain
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:53 pm

    Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/kmB4OpIsfu H/Ts @EdMorrissey @LegInsurrection

  12. CANARYorg
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:53 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/kmB4OpIsfu H/Ts @EdMorrissey @LegIns…

  13. EdMorrissey
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:53 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/kmB4OpIsfu H/Ts @EdMorrissey @LegIns…

  14. VictorB123
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:55 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/kmB4OpIsfu H/Ts @EdMorrissey @LegIns…

  15. instapundit
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:55 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/kmB4OpIsfu H/Ts @EdMorrissey @LegIns…

  16. C1TYofFL1NT
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:56 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/kmB4OpIsfu H/Ts @EdMorrissey @LegIns…

  17. jonzies
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:59 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/kmB4OpIsfu H/Ts @EdMorrissey @LegIns…

  18. James_in_TX
    November 25th, 2013 @ 1:08 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/kmB4OpIsfu H/Ts @EdMorrissey @LegIns…

  19. Rosalie
    November 25th, 2013 @ 1:11 pm

    It’s only a PR problem? Never mind that it’s devastating budgets and making healthcare unattainable for many. They really think that we’re that dumb.

  20. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    November 25th, 2013 @ 1:15 pm

    Short answer: Yes. It is delusional thinking but yeah, they think that right now.

  21. scarymatt
    November 25th, 2013 @ 1:26 pm

    “If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither on your side, pound the table.”

    There is nothing else they can do but spin. The website not working isn’t the fault of the law, but they can’t bend reality to defy IT realities, and otherwise the law is doing what they wanted it to do, except that not enough people are delusional enough like them to think that what it’s designed to do is a good thing.

  22. tahDeetz
    November 25th, 2013 @ 1:26 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/kmB4OpIsfu H/Ts @EdMorrissey @LegIns…

  23. Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? | Dead Citizen's Rights Society
    November 25th, 2013 @ 1:33 pm

    […] Read the rest … […]

  24. JoyKeller1
    November 25th, 2013 @ 1:53 pm

    Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/8sjKjTskBF

  25. MichaelBarger1
    November 25th, 2013 @ 1:55 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/kmB4OpIsfu H/Ts @EdMorrissey @LegIns…

  26. jslconsulting
    November 25th, 2013 @ 1:58 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/kmB4OpIsfu H/Ts @EdMorrissey @LegIns…

  27. wrs715
    November 25th, 2013 @ 2:40 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: TOM Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/A9IOtjuDsL #TCOT

  28. DaveO
    November 25th, 2013 @ 2:59 pm

    Long answer: yes, which is why McConnell is trying to keep the TEA Party angry, so they don’t stay home regardless of the Dem thuggery

  29. kbiel
    November 25th, 2013 @ 3:16 pm

    When the Republicans fail, it’s because their ideals are evil, wrong, and unpopular. When Democrats fail, it’s because they just failed to communicate them better and because the American people were just too stupid to accept the superiority of Democrat ideals.

    At least that is what I have learned from the media over the last 30+ years.

  30. JeffS
    November 25th, 2013 @ 3:27 pm

    Well, if they are reading the leftie “Little Blue Book“, yes, they do think they can spin their way out of this hole that the Dems have dug themselves.

    Which is their problem — reading “The Little Blue Book”, I mean. Zombie’s analysis of it is spot on, and the Dem’s spin tactics are adhering to it quite closely. They feel good about themselves while wondering how it is that their ship is a lot lower in the water than it should be.

    Not that this will destroy the Democrats/lefties. But it’s good to understand where a lot of their spin is coming from.

  31. Kevin Trainor Jr.
    November 25th, 2013 @ 3:57 pm

    Kevin Trainor Jr. liked this on Facebook.

  32. Becca Lower
    November 25th, 2013 @ 4:16 pm

    You left out another reason Democrats fail: evil Republicans have spread destructive propaganda that people are stupid enough to believe over Dem’s superior rhetoric.

  33. kbiel
    November 25th, 2013 @ 4:35 pm

    Oh crap. Now I have to start watching CNN again to be re-educated.

  34. Finrod Felagund
    November 25th, 2013 @ 5:06 pm

    I had forgotten about the Little Blue Book. Thanks for the reminder.

  35. GulfDogs
    November 25th, 2013 @ 5:26 pm

    ?Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe??#2A #CCOT #TCOT?http://t.co/cAT4Rgt5DA

  36. alexandraswann
    November 25th, 2013 @ 5:26 pm

    RT @GulfDogs: ?Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe??#2A #CCOT #TCOT?http://t.co/cAT4Rgt5DA

  37. Takingonissues
    November 25th, 2013 @ 5:26 pm

    RT @GulfDogs: ?Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe??#2A #CCOT #TCOT?http://t.co/cAT4Rgt5DA

  38. cherryblossom06
    November 25th, 2013 @ 5:29 pm

    RT @GulfDogs: ?Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe??#2A #CCOT #TCOT?http://t.co/cAT4Rgt5DA

  39. Wombat_socho
    November 25th, 2013 @ 5:30 pm

    You should read The People’s Cube instead. More laughing, less brain damage.

  40. - BitsBlog
    November 25th, 2013 @ 5:58 pm

    […] Denial is not the name of a river in Egypt […]

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    November 25th, 2013 @ 6:02 pm

    […] Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? […]

  42. Socialism: Organized Evil
    November 25th, 2013 @ 6:36 pm

    In this article we find more evidence of Hussein Obama’s economic jihad against the middle class: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/price-electricity-hit-record-october-42-decade

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    November 25th, 2013 @ 8:49 pm

    […] Wait till those employer provided plans start getting 86ed next year. Then the real caca hits the fan […]

  44. PubliusNV
    November 26th, 2013 @ 1:51 am

    Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/VmczTDch8Q

  45. Walla Walla TEA Party Patriots
    November 26th, 2013 @ 2:59 am

    […] Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? […]

  46. JenFDRepublican
    November 27th, 2013 @ 3:21 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Do Democrats Think They Can Spin Their Way Out of the ObamaCare Catastrophe? http://t.co/kmB4OpIsfu H/Ts @EdMorrissey @LegIns…

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