Oh, we’re going for it, champ. Sort of. Maybe. At least for a few provisions. I think.
The cool, sweet fact of the matter is that the GOP has a lot to run on this fall. How shall we hammer them? Let us count the ways:
These are the tried-and-true issues for Republicans to hit: jobs, Medicare, the deficit, taxes and spending, and Congress. There will be other messages out there, but individually each of these would be very potent. Running on them all in a single election is something else entirely. If the Republicans pick up lots of seats in November, some Republican campaign “guru” will come out of the woodwork to claim credit – but c’mon, the ads write themselves.
The GOP need not and will not focus primarily on the idea of “repeal,” which is far too vague. That’s not to say that the party shouldn’t promise repeal. It’s just to say that its rhetorical emphases should – and will – focus on the messages that have been proven over the years to be effective.
One of the virtues of the repeal push is that it touches on all of those issues, so it becomes a conversation-starter about the Dems’ broader bread-and-butter failures. That’s a nifty way to appeal to centrists while simultaneously rallying the tea-party base against the mother of all welfare-state incursions. Coalition-building! Expect plenty of pushback of the sort you’re about to see vis-a-vis heartless Republicans — like these? — from people who need them. Never, ever forget: There are no trade-offs in utopia.
So confident is The One in his ability to win this argument with Republicans that he’s … already reminding voters not to expect any major improvements overnight. Patience, America. It’ll work. Someday.
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