Ryan Nicol
One year after the House of Representatives voted to repeal Obamacare, Democrats are hoping their base doesn’t forget.
With the 2018 midterms just six months away, the Florida Democratic Party released an ad hammering Republicans on their handling of health care. Though the bill ultimately failed in the Senate, the Democrats still plan to use the repeal attempt to make their case to voters in the upcoming election.
The 21-second digital ad shows a grinning President Donald Trump with a simple scroll of all Florida Republicans who cast a vote to repeal Obamacare. That includes Reps. Carlos Curbelo, Ron DeSantis, Mario Diaz-Balart, Matt Gaetz, and Ted Yoho. The ad wraps up with the hashtag #VoteThemOut.
The ads are set to target the districts of those Republican House members who voted in favor of repeal.
Last year’s repeal vote came just as the Affordable Care Act showed a surge in popularity. The law now has a positive favorability rating according to RealClearPolitics. That’s a shocking turnaround considering the same data showed many more Americans opposing the law in each year from 2010 through 2016.
It’s not clear what caused the law to gain support. But if that support holds, this likely won’t be the last Florida voters hear of the GOP’s efforts to repeal Obamacare.
In addition to the new ad, FDP Chair Terri Rizzo sent out a statement taking particular aim at DeSantis, who’s running to be Florida’s next governor. “Today we are reminded that all Florida Republican House members voted to take away health care from millions of Americans — including Gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis. The steps Republicans have taken to dismantle the Affordable Care Act have already had harsh effects on hard-working Florida families.”
Those steps were all for naught as the bill died on the Senate floor thanks to “no” votes from three Republicans: Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, Maine Senator Susan Collins, and perhaps most surprisingly, Arizona Senator John McCain. That left Republicans without a win to tout to their voters, along with what Democrats hope to be a piece of their closing argument come November.
“We are also reminded of the Democratic leaders who fought to protect the Affordable Care Act, like Senator Bill Nelson and all of our Democratic House Members,” said Rizzo. “We will be reminding voters every day until November of who voted to take away their healthcare, who is fighting to protect it, and what is at stake in the 2018 elections.”
