For five years, congressional Democrats have sprung to his defense when Obama's been in trouble. Now though, amid the dismal reality of Obamacare, Politico reports [7] a familiar refrain from Democratic sources: Obama's "if-you-like-it-you-can-keep-it" promise on insurance policies is his "Read my lips, no new taxes" moment — a reference to the broken promise that came to damage President George H.W. Bush’s credibility with his fellow Republicans. His one-time allies are no longer sure that it's wise to follow him into battle, leaving Obama and his law not only vulnerable to existing critics, but open to new attacks from his own party. Democratic sources say, Obama can expect that lawmakers will be quicker to criticize him — and distance themselves from his policies.
Via Politico, [7]
[Instead of his "fix" and talking points for Obamacare], the White House chief of staff might have been better off revealing a U.S. map with the president’s plan for saving congressional Democrats’ seats — or just apologizing for letting so many Democrats walk out in public and repeat wildly inaccurate White House claims about the health of the enrollment website and Americans’ ability to keep their insurance plans if they liked them.
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President Barack Obama’s credibility may have taken a big hit with voters, but he’s also in serious danger of permanently losing the trust of Democrats in Congress.
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“I don’t know how he f—-ed this up so badly,” said one House Democrat who has been very supportive of Obama in the past.
The first test of unity: how many Democrats vote for a bill Friday penned by Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton. The legislation would allow people to keep their canceled insurance plans through 2014.
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Congressional Democrats are on the line in 2014. Many of them voted for Obamacare, defended it in 2010 and will have to stand in front of voters next year and explain the problems.
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Even some Democrats who have been big supporters of the Affordable Care Act told McDonough that Obama’s plan for an administration fix to address health plan cancellations isn’t enough for them. They need a bill to get behind. Translation: In addition to skepticism about the policy, it’s not good politics for them to just fall in line behind Obama on the fix.
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Democrats who are leaning toward voting for a GOP bill, due on the House floor Friday, that would address the cancellation issue in much broader fashion than Obama would like.
“We don’t have a policy problem,” Pelosi told her Democrats in the private meeting, a defense of the law written by Congress. “We have a website problem.”
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No one expects Obama to lose the majority of Democrats on the GOP bill Friday, but even a few dozen defections would be a telling indication that lawmakers are no longer as worried about hurting him as they once were.
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Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), who passionately defended the law in the closed-door meeting Thursday, acknowledged in an interview that the White House was probably a “little too overconfident and the rhetoric, perhaps, got a little hyperbolic in terms of how perfect this is.” But he also acknowledged it is more difficult for House Democrats to sign onto the White House’s promises right now, particularly the assurances that the website will be fixed by the end of the month.
“We’re not going to all get behind a Nov. 30 date, which is probably not going to be realized...