So this shouldn’t come as a shock to everyone; Obamacare is unpopular with GOP voters in New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Florida. It’s an issue that energizes a base that doesn’t look too favorably on those GOP candidates who have supported Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion in their states. Yes, all eyes are on you, Governor John Kasich and Governor Chris Christie.
According to the Foundation for Government Accountability voteon average, 60 percent of GOP voters in these four states were less likely to support a candidate who expanded Obamacare. If the Republican candidate lobbied other states to do the same, 69.5% would be less likely to support that candidate’s presidential campaign. It should also come as no surprise that 81 percent (on average) of GOP voters in these states do not support President Obama’s health care law.
The FGA poll, conducted Aug. 24-27, polled 2,182 likely GOP voters. Five hundred and two voters were from Iowa, 520 from New Hampshire, 598 from South Carolina, and 562 from Florida.
What about Kasich’s rise in polls? Doesn’t this prove that perhaps Republicans might be open to his candidacy? In 2014, he won a second term in a landslide re-election campaign, defeating Hillary in Ohio. This is a state that Republicans must win in 2016. He doubled his votes in the polls and was able to win sit at the adult table during the first Republican debate. Already, it is still in the single digitsand slightly ahead of George Pataki. This is nothing to brag about in this race as “National Review”– wrote Jim Geraghty.
He could pose a threat to Jeb Bush, perceived as the establishment’s second candidate. According to reports, both candidates heading into gameplay in New Hampshire. At the same time, Medicaid expansion will be an issue. If Kasich’s team reads the FGA and indicates otherwise, they are heading for disaster.
Since he said this, Kasich has had no wiggle room regarding the decision to expand Medicaid in his state God wanted Ohio to grow government health care in his state. Policy reported that this issue may “haunt” him in Iowa and New Hampshire, but it is not a “fatal” issue. Nevertheless, it’s something that doesn’t support him in a crowded GOP field. Additionally, the costs associated with Medicaid expansion mean that Kasich’s claim to balance the books in the Buckeye State could easily be torpedoed in less than a decade because the program is known to destroy the budget, forcing state legislatures to find an average of three to four dollars in cuts elsewhere their budgets to save a dollar for Medicaid. So, in a sense, this could turn into a fatal disease for his candidacy. It also doesn’t sound good that the modern class of eligible recipients consists of youthful, childless and able-bodied adults who have other options for health insurance. About a third of people who are currently eligible for expansion benefits have a criminal record.
At last, Forbes Avik Roy called the program a “humanitarian disaster” given that people without insurance fare better than those enrolled in Medicaid. Oh, and recipients have yet to report receiving better care under this government program.
Incredibly exorbitant, doesn’t support the working penniless, and the quality of care is terrible. Justifying the expansion of such a program may be complex, given how deep the opposition is among Republican primary voters.
The same problems with Medicaid expansion also apply to Gov. Chris Christie.
FINAL NOTE: Florida Republican strategist Rick Wilson feelings towards Governor Kasich and Obamacare: :
“He’s the only Republican in this field who not only embraced Obamacare, but also got in his dad’s station wagon and made out with him… That’s not a strategy for winning the Republican primary.”
