Democrats believe the GOP’s failed health care bill is so toxic that they launched a series of digital ads Monday arguing that those Republicans who voted for the repeal-and-replace plan in committee will pay a political price.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan nixed the bill on Friday, sparing most Republicans from having to vote.
But dozens of GOP lawmakers had already walked the plank, voting to support the bill in three separate committees, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said all of those supporters are live targets.
“Republicans knowingly voted for a bill to raise premiums and deductibles, slap an age tax on older folks and rip insurance away from 24 million hardworking Americans,” said Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, chairman of the DCCC. “It’s critical that voters know where their representative stood on this legislation.”
Republicans are still trying to figure out how badly they’ve been damaged by the Obamacare fight, which saw Mr. Ryan and President Trump push lawmakers to vote on a repeal-and-replace bill that none of them were particularly enthusiastic about.
The bill made it through the House Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce and Budget committees earlier this month, all on the strength of GOP votes.
But after it became clear he didn’t have the votes to get the bill approved on the House floor, Mr. Ryan pulled it from consideration.
Jesse Hunt, spokesman at the National Republican Campaign Committee, said Republicans at least tried to do something, and said it’s Democrats who will pay a political price when Obamacare collapses.
“Ultimately, Democrats will have to answer for their steadfast support of Obamacare as the ongoing collapse adversely impacts millions of Americans,” Mr. Hunt said. “They’ve offered zero alternatives even as premiums skyrocket and choices dwindle.”
But Democrats said that Republicans, by trying their bill, now own the health care fight, and will suffer at the ballot box.
House Democrats saw the same dynamic in 2009 after they passed a bill to impose a cap-and-trade scheme on greenhouse gas emissions — only to see the legislation die without action in the Senate. That left a number of vulnerable Democrats with a controversial vote on their record, without actually getting a bill that passed.
Analysts said that vote, along with Obamacare’s original passage, cost Democrats dozens of seats in the 2010 election.
Although the GOP’s health care overhaul never made it to the House floor for a vote, most Republicans went on record declaring whether they supported the plan, and Democrats are racing to tear down those that did.
“After an underwhelming election last year, Democrats are feeling emboldened,” said Nathan Gonzales, editor and publisher of Inside Elections, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaigns. “They’ve been rallying the faithful against President Trump, but now have a specific piece of legislation to demonize.”
Mr. Gonzalez said the GOP bill’s failure also gives Democrats an opening to raise money and recruit candidates now.
The DCCC’s digital ad campaign focuses on 14 lawmakers that cast votes in favor of the bill during the committee process. The list includes several whose seats could be in play next year, including Reps. John J. Faso of New York, Carlos Curbelo of Florida and Jason Lewis of Minnesota.
But some GOP members thought to be relatively safe are also on the list, such as Rep. Chris Collins of New York, a top Trump ally who emerged as one of the bill’s most vocal defenders.
The online ads highlight Mr. Trump’s assertion that “everybody is going to be taken are of, much better than they are being taken care of now,” and an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office that found insurance premiums would increase under the proposal — and that 24 million people would lose coverage.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.