Now that the GOP has won in a huge landslide in the House of Representatives, they are fulfilling the promise to the American people if they took control of power again- they are voting next week to repeal Obamacare. Of course, this will not pass the Senate or the President's veto pen. Nonetheless, it sets battle lines for 2012. And the advantage on this is clearly with the GOP. As it stands, there are STILL no polls out there that think Obamacare is good. Moreso, majorities not only are against it, but want it repealed.
And for Democrats to say Republicans are going to starve the "good parts" of it, that's a non-starter. If they only wanted the good things in it (reducing the donut hole, not allowing insurance companies to insure pre-exisiting conditions, etc.) they are making the case for Republicans. In fact, Republicans are in favor of these parts. But there are things that have to be repealed in order to get rid of the bad (mandating us to buy or receive penalty) and adding the good (such as tort reform) into the overall health care reform.
It cannot be repeated enough- Republicans won a huge majority in the House and Governorships, as well as reducing the deficit in the Senate, largely on this issue. And the support AGAINST Obamacare is the only position that has major support from both parties.
I'd also be interested to see those Democrats who voted for Obamacare last year in the Senate, to see where they stand now. These would be the vulnerable Democrats who are up for re-election in 2012 and represent states that clearly are against Obamacare. This would include Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Bill Nelson of Florida, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Jon Tester of Montana, Jim Webb of Virginia, and so on. I'd venture to guess that if this group decides to keep their support for Obamacare this year, they will indeed be an extinct species when it comes time for re-election. So much so that they will be wiped off the map in the way many Democrats were this past election (see Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas).
