Post-health-care Fatigue Syndrome

It seems that the GOPers will be forced to hold a debate within their own ranks over exactly what sort of repeal campaign to adopt — and that could get messy. (Do those Tea Party activists desire an extensive discussion over what to keep and what to reject regarding the hundreds of provisions in the bill, or do they simply yearn to smother the measure, knife it, shoot it, and then burn it?) And Democrats seem eager to take on any Republican repeal effort — and depict Republicans pushing for repeal as in favor of removing the new restrictions on abusive insurance company practices. In her meeting with columnists, Pelosi referred to an 8-year-old boy who had a stroke and was kicked off his family’s insurance plan. After the health care bill is enacted, she noted, “he will never have that worry again.” Democrats are just waiting to accuse Republicans of pulling the plug on such Americans. (For more of what Pelosi told the columnists, see Jill Lawrence’s account.)

But the bigger challenge for Republicans pushing repeal may be PHCFS within the American public. There’s no way of telling yet, but my hunch is that a lot of Americans are also exhausted by the reform tussle and may want to move on. Keeping this fight alive could serve the Republicans well among their Tea Party base, but it might turn off independent voters and others who wonder if the GOP has become a party of sore losers, who prefer re-fighting a lost battle to focusing on revving up the economy. The Republican Party is well-positioned to take advantage this fall of what will likely be months of high unemployment. Doing nothing and functioning as little more non-incumbents might serve GOP candidates well. Yet if GOPers come across as crusaders who want to revive the already-settled health care debate, voters may say, who wants to go through that again? After all, the best remedy for PHCFS is rest and resetting the agenda.