White House plans for a health care messaging blitz ahead of Obamacare’s rollout have been overshadowed by the president’s call to strike Syria, distracting the administration from its plan to focus attention on a litany of domestic issues.
Obamacare was supposed to get its time in the limelight over these next few weeks, ahead of October’s open enrollment launch for the healthcare law’s insurance exchanges.
The White House is initiating an all-hands-on-deck approach to selling the polarizing overhaul, with President Obama, Cabinet members and high-level surrogates expected to talk up the benefits of the Affordable Care Act in coming weeks.
But a high-profile speech on Wednesday from former President Bill Clinton, who Obama once dubbed his “Secretary of Explaining Stuff,” to tout the healthcare law’s reform largely went unnoticed as lawmakers held contentious hearings on possible military action against Syria.
Some Democrats, however, downplayed the lack of attention on the health law.
“Politically speaking, it’s not the worst thing,” a veteran Democratic strategist, given anonymity to speak candidly about Obamacare, said. “Recently, the focus on health care has done more harm than good. I’m highly skeptical that a new PR blitz, even from the likes of President Clinton, will do much."
Many Democrats are concerned over polls which show the public does not understand many key aspects of the law and fear that a troubled rollout could hurt them in 2014.
The administration recently delayed until 2015 both the requirement for most employers to provide health insurance plans for their workers and the cap on out-of-pocket costs on medical care. Both postponements were seen as major gifts to Republicans who have vowed to make the health law a central issue in the 2014 midterm elections and push for efforts to repeal the law.
