Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Because it's unpopular: Obama and Dems not using ObamaCare name

At one time, as Politico tells us, Obama and his fellow Dems loved the name.

No more.
President Barack Obama and loyal Democrats once embraced the term Obamacare to sell the American people on health care reform.
Not anymore.

With the president’s approval ratings at record lows, a broken website and Obama under fire for his pledge that people could keep their plans, the “Affordable Care Act” has returned.

The president didn't say "Obamacare" once during his nearly hourlong news conference last week, while he referred to the "Affordable Care Act" a dozen times. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi went so far as to correct David Gregory on "Meet the Press" Sunday on the proper terminology. And White House talking points distributed to Democrats and obtained by POLITICO repeatedly refer to the Affordable Care Act in suggested sound bites, not Obamacare.

Calling it the Affordable Care Act has advantages for Democrats seeking to defend health care reform while still criticizing the bungled White House rollout. The phrase polls better than Obamacare — and people have responded more positively to the law's benefits when they haven’t been told they come from Obamacare.
On the flipside, the Affordable Health Act isn't really affordable.

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