Staff writer for The Washington Free Beacon Ellison Barber analyzed the recent trend of some Democrats embracing Obamacare Friday on Fox News.
Host Gretchen Carlson asked Barber about a recent ad by Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D., Pa.) that highlights the representative's role in crafting and passing Obamacare. Barber said Schwartz is probably resorting to this tactic because she is trailing badly in the state's Democratic primary. The frontrunner Tom Wolf, Barber noted, is 31 points ahead in the race and could risk pigeonholing himself if he ran hard on Obamacare this early in the race.
The more common trend is Democrats running on keeping Obamacare but vowing to fix it, Barber added. This platform allows Democrats to support the law but acknowledge it has problems, as opposed to Schwartz's wholehearted embrace in Pennsylvania.
Moreover, Barber also pointed out when Democrats to speak positively about Obamacare, they emphasize the noncontroversial aspects of the law. To evidence her point, Barber cited an ad produced by a pro Sen. Mark Begich (D., Alaska) super PAC that focuses on the senator's support for eliminating insurance companies' ability to discriminate based on preexisting conditions. Notably absent are the more contentious aspects of Obamacare, such as provisions that restrict healthcare networks or disqualify certain insurance plans.