There’s a photo of Congressman Steve Daines (R-MT) right at the top of the page of this Bloomberg News story noting how GOP newcomers “are making life hard for their party” by doing what they were sent to Washington, DC to do:
If Republican Tom Massie’s push to dismantle President Barack Obama’s health-care law shuts down the government and costs him his House seat, he’d happily return to his solar-powered home back in Kentucky with his kids.
That’s making life difficult for Republican House Speaker John Boehner.
“We were elected to repeal and replace Obamacare,” said Rep. Dennis Ross, a Florida Republican elected in 2010. “We’ve got to offer an alternative for the sake of our credibility.”
Now, there’s this- Breitbart.com: Defunding Obamacare is not Political Suicide
However, a new poll by Rasmussen indicates that a majority of Americans–51% to 40%–would favor shutting down the government, at least partially, rather than funding Obamacare. Americans who now face the prospect of higher insurance costs, fewer working hours, and the loss of their health coverage or their jobs are willing to suffer a brief interruption in non-essential government services until those problems are solved.
The Democrats who plotted–years in advance–to use universal health care in 2009 as a battering ram for even more radical legislation were confident that people would never give up their new entitlement once they had it. Today, it is the conservative wing of the Republican Party that is fighting for Americans’ right to keep their health insurance.
Daines is now expected to run for the US Senate in Montana, while Democrats have been desperate to find a candidate. It appears they may have settled on current Lt. Governor John Walsh (D-MT).
US News and World Report’s Lauren Fox says Walsh was in DC meeting with Democratic party leaders this week and will make his decision in the coming weeks.
“Democrats have no chance,” says David Parker, a political science professor at Montana State University who is working on a book about Sen. Jon Tester’s, D-Mont., narrow re-election victory in 2012. “History shows the president’s party gets punished in midterm elections and Montana is the place where they likely will.”
Pundits in Montana say Walsh can capitalize on the infrastructure and volunteer base left over from Tester’s campaign, which boasted an elaborate ground game and effectively mobilized women and Native American voters to win the race.
But already, Walsh has had a bit of a mishap, a sign of his inexperience in the spotlight.
Even USA Today is covering the so-called mishap…
Speaking of social media fumbles…
Suggested PR response: We thought he said “tweed”… @PostReid @ArgusMontgomery @ClaudiaLaws @arb
— Aaron Flint (@aaronflint) September 17, 2013