GOP Strategy: The Midterm Elections are All About Obamacare

Republican leaders are telling the party's House members that persistent criticism of the federal health-care law is the best path to victory this fall regardless of how the law's implementation evolves ahead of the November elections. Leaders of the congressional wing of the party say opposition to the Affordable Care Act will resonate with the voters most likely to go to the polls, and they are encouraging House members, currently at home for a two-week recess, to keep up their attacks.

The Obama administration last week said 7.5 million people had signed up for policies through the law's federal and state health-insurance exchanges, a number Democrats say shows the law has gained momentum and is starting to fulfill its goal of providing coverage to previously uninsured Americans. This week, the Congressional Budget Office said premiums for plans sold through the exchanges would cost less than previously expected.

Republicans say declarations of success are premature. They question the validity of the enrollment numbers, in particular, and argue that many of the new enrollees previously had insurance but lost it because their old plans didn't comply with the law's new, more robust coverage standards.

In any case, they say, the numbers won't change how voters feel about the law. The strategy is designed to tap into a deep suspicion of the law among Republicans, particularly the party's core voters who are more likely to turn out for midterm elections.

"The intensity level of those who have been most affected by this law is greater on the negative side than on the positive side," House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said in an interview. "I don't see that being a difficult conversation for us to have."

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