Is trying to repeal ObamaCare a smart move for a candidate in the Land of Obama? Mark Kirk seems to think so. And he may be right.
Kirk, who promised to make Obama a “one termer” while slamming his health care plan back in March, is now planning to sign a discharge petition that would require the House to reconsider the bill. Such petitions require signatures from a majority of members, so Kirk admits the measure has “no chance” in the Democrat-dominated House.
Kirk wants to replace ObamaCare with a less expensive plan.
“I think that as Republicans and Americans we should be for healthcare reform, but the kind of reforms that I want to back don’t weaken the finances of the federal government long-term with new spending,” the congressman told Chicago Public Radio.
As a piece of political grandstanding, it may work. As the unemployment rate refuses to budge, and governments all across the country are cutting services and running up record deficits, the public is growing impatient with the president. A CBS News poll taken over the weekend showed that 44 percent of Americans approve and 44 percent disapprove of Obama’s job performance -- the first time he hasn’t receiving a positive rating in that survey. Last week, a Rasmussen Reports poll found that 55 percent of Illinoians want to repeal health care reform, their favorite son’s greatest political achievement.
If Kirk wants to ride an anti-Washington wave into the Senate, the best way to do it is by taking a stand against the most powerful man in D.C. The Financial Times is predicting that, as a result of the public’s dissatisfaction with Obama, “it is now quite possible the Republicans could win the Senate seats formerly held by both President Obama in Illinois, and Joe Biden, vice-president, in Delaware.”
Politics
Or as Slate put it, in an article about Obama’s inability to sell his policies to the public, “Candidate Obama used to joke about rays of sunshine coming in when he started to speak. Now he brings the clouds.”
Meanwhile, we can give Alexi Giannoulias credit for loyalty. He’s sticking with Obama, in spite of his old friend’s tanking poll numbers. He still wants Obama to campaign alongside him in Illinois, and he’s still a staunch defender of health care reform.
“Although Congressman Kirk is not known for his candor or firm convictions," Giannoulias spokesman Matt McGrath told Ward Room, "we will take him at his word that he is now firmly in favor of restoring discrimination against those with pre-existing conditions, keeping in place the Medicare prescription drug ‘donut hole,’ stripping coverage from young adults, and adding more than $1 trillion to the federal debt over the next two decades."
