Health insurance mess puts Obama's credibility on the line
The headlines seemed to come in a rapid-fire rhetorical onslaught.
鈥淔ighting for His Presidency 鈥� Does Obama Have Any Cred Left? 鈥� Does the health-care fumble mean game over for Obama? 鈥� The five biggest ways Obamacare鈥檚 problems have hurt Democrats 鈥� Is This Obama鈥檚 Katrina? 鈥� Obama needs his friends back.鈥�
If President Obama has had a worse week than the one just ending, it鈥檚 hard to remember.
He had to apologize for the Affordable Care Act computer problems that have turned out to be far more than 鈥済litches.鈥� He acknowledged having misspoke 鈥� Republicans say he lied 鈥� when he told the American people they could keep their existing health-care plans. He watched as more than three dozen Democratic House members jumped ship to vote for a Republican bill adjusting Obamacare in a way the White House threatens to veto.
"I'm just going to keep on working as hard as I can around the priorities that I think the American people care about,鈥� Obama said Thursday in what must have been an excruciating press conference. 鈥淎nd I think it's legitimate for them to expect me to have to win back some credibility on this health-care law in particular and on a whole range of these issues in general."
Fumbling in football was the image he raised again and again.
鈥淲e fumbled the rollout on this health-care law,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 am very frustrated, but I鈥檓 also somebody who, if I fumbled the ball, you know, I鈥檓 going to wait until I get the next play, and then I鈥檓 going to try to run as hard as I can and do right by the team.鈥�
Questions remain. Will there be a 鈥渘ext play鈥� for the embattled president, or will he be effectively benched? And who, exactly, is his 鈥渢eam鈥� anymore?
The Washington Post鈥檚 鈥淭he Fix鈥� political blog helpfully points out 鈥淭he five biggest ways Obamacare鈥檚 problems have hurt Democrats鈥� 鈥� a party that鈥檚 beginning to feel the kind of angst the GOP did last month when most Americans blamed the GOP for the government shutdown.
Thirty-nine Democrats joined Republicans Friday to pass a House bill that would allow insurers to keep selling the kinds of policies that were being canceled for existing customers. Not only that, they could offer such policies to new customers.
"It would take away the core protections of that law," complained Rep. Henry Waxman (D) of California. 鈥淚t creates an entire shadow market of substandard health-care plans.鈥�
It鈥檚 complicated, but as the Monitor鈥檚 Francine Kiefer writes, the change could result in 鈥渉igher premiums and, potentially, an insurance system that can鈥檛 adequately support itself.鈥�
As the Washington Post reported, the House vote was 鈥渢he largest defection by far on a major or closely-watched piece of legislation this year, signaling the political difficulty that dozens of congressional Democrats face in reelection contests next year.鈥�
Obama鈥檚 concession on existing health-care policies this week would only allow insurers and state insurance commissioners to extend those policies through most of 2014.
But some Democrats in the Senate 鈥� the most vulnerable ones facing reelection 鈥� likely would join Republicans in voting for a 鈥淜eep Your Health Plan Act鈥� of the type that passed in the House 261-157.
Obama鈥檚 credibility gap 鈥� compared in the press to Ronald Reagan after Iran-contra, Bill Clinton after he was impeached over the Monica Lewinsky affair, and George W. Bush after hurricane Katrina 鈥� is crystal clear in the latest polls.
For the first time, a majority of voters (52 percent to 48 percent) say Obama is not 鈥渉onest and trustworthy,鈥� according to the most recent Quinnipiac University National Poll. The disapproval rating among women (51 percent to 40 percent), where Obama has done particularly well in past polls and elections, is even wider.
"President Obama's job approval rating has fallen to the level of former President George W. Bush at the same period of his presidency," says聽Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.聽"Any Democrat with an 11-point approval deficit among women is in trouble. And any elected official with an 8-point trust deficit is in serious trouble."聽
"President Obama's misstatement, 'If you like your health plan, you can keep it,' left a bad taste with a lot of people,鈥� Mr. Malloy says. 鈥淣early half of the voters, 46 percent, think he knowingly deceived them.鈥�
Other polls find similar results.
About the time he was sworn in for a second term in January, Obama鈥檚 approval rating was mostly positive 鈥� 52 percent to 40 percent, according to the Pew Research Center. Now, those figures are reversed: 53 percent disapprove of the job he鈥檚 doing, while 41 percent approve. On health care, it鈥檚 even worse: 59 percent versus 37 percent.
鈥淐redibility is not just about honesty. It's about authority,鈥� writes John Dickerson, Slate鈥檚 chief political correspondent. 鈥淒oes the president really have command over the things he's talking about?鈥�
So far, most Americans don鈥檛 think so.
