Will Republicans Pay for Not Repealing Obamacare

First, off all Republicans can blame Senator McCain. The House passed something. The senators voted to repeal something. The two other senators that voted against any repeals, Senator Collins and Murkowski had established their position early and with the blessings of their voters. The only politician who took a political risk was John McCain, who's in a unique position to "vote his conscience". If conventional wisdom holds and elections are all local, that is the favorite position of a politician. "I voted for the right thing, but the other guy stopped it from happening."

A more serious criticism is how it shows the Republican inability to govern. I'm sure that will be brought up by their opponents. But will that criticism hold in a primary? I would not count on it. After, getting past their primary, most senators and legislators don't need to worry about getting re-elected, given the current political landscape.

But won't Republican voters be disappointed? Again, I'm not sure. That's because I never believed most Republican voters want to repeal Obamacare. Well, I mean they wanted to repeal Obamacare, but not repeal the ACA. To explain that, I have to take you back 2007. The economy had collapsed, we were still in a pointless war, and the conservatives were all to blame.

I'm sure a conservative would disagree with that last statement, but that's part of the point. The Iraq War was not a democrat or liberal idea. The economy did not fail because of too much regulation. If President Obama had been more like FDR (or maybe Clinton), he would have launch a massive campaign vilifying Republicans and conservatives, forcing them out of power for a generation. If you sincerely believe that non-conservative governance is a danger to the country, you really needed for that not to happen. Whatever, President Obama's intentions, the survival of the Conservative Movement meant that he could not be viewed as a successful president. From that perspective, you could understand Senator McConnel's goal of making "President Obama a one term president". And, that pretty much explains the last 8 years.

But, Obama is not the president anymore, and conservatives have had enough time to offer their own explanations for the failures of President Bush. There's no need to worry about Obamacare, and "the government needs to leave their hands off of my ACA". Sure, there will remain more idealistic conservatives demanding the repeal of the Obamacare, but they also want to repeal Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, Welfare, EPA, fluoride in water, bookstore that don't sell Ayn Rand novels, the letter "M", and the Federal Reserve. (They so much want to get rid of the Fed.)

What Republicans really need to worry about is when premiums go up.

They also need to worry about the future. If you are thirty years old or younger, what you know about the Democratic Party is 'health care', 'help on your student loans', and 'killing Osama bin Laden'. (Also, Jon Stewart and SNL.) What you know about the Republican Party is 'Iraq War', 'economic crisis', and, well, Trump.

Today, I was pretty hard on conservatives which is usually not what I do. First, I'll try to do the same to liberals one day. Those unbathed, quinoa eating, kale smelling liberals. Second, if you voted for Trump, I don't care. You deserve it. And finally, you can prove me wrong. Make Republican Senators and Representatives pay in 2018.