Thursday, August 26, 2010

Democrats’ Latest Health Care Re-Launch

An article in this morning’s LA Times outlines how Democrats and their allies plan a massive ad campaign “in an attempt to stem public disaffection with the health overhaul ahead of the November election:”

A nationwide, multimillion-dollar ad offensive — organized in consultation with the White House and funded by sympathetic groups and wealthy individual donors — is set to kick off in the coming days.  At the same time, dozens of leading consumer advocates, patient associations and medical groups, working independently and alongside the Obama administration, are scrambling to put together initiatives to tout the law’s benefits.

Several things to note in this article, beginning with the involvement of non-profit – and in some cases, ostensibly non-partisan – organizations like the AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in a political campaign “organized in consultation with the White House.”  These organizations will likely “educate” the public about its purported benefits, while giving short shrift to its drawbacks, like the Congressional Budget Office’s assessment made last week that the legislation will kill hundreds of thousands of jobs.  On a related note, the Health Information Campaign says it will start running ads in support of the law next week – and hopes to “spend $125 million over the next five years.”  Will Democrats – including President Obama – who support the DISCLOSE Act publicly request that this pro-health “reform” organization disclose all its donors?

Over and above the logistics of the latest attempt to “re-launch” the health care “reform” sales effort, there’s the bigger problem that the bill’s provisions remain unpopular with voters.  A survey by Families USA leaked last week admitted that the packaging effort around the law failed, and that the American public believes (rightly) that the law will hurt both the economy and the federal deficit.  Earlier this week, Third Way’s David Kendall admitted that “The healthcare debate raised people’s expectations and there is now disappointment as a result that the problem isn’t solved,” despite all the talk about the law’s supposed “immediate deliverables.”  And a blog posting by the Food and Drug Administration earlier this week on restaurant menu labeling talked about requirements in “the new law,” while neglecting to mention that the new law containing the menu labeling requirements was the health care law – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care ActIf the Administration is afraid to mention the health care law by name on its own website, how unpopular does that make the law – and does anyone really believe that running more ads will change the dynamic?

As Republicans have claimed all along, the problem is not the messaging but the substance.  Once Democrats finally admit that, Congress can start taking steps to enact true health reform, not the 2,700 page behemoth that the majority rammed through earlier this year.