In the search for answers to the question of why Democrats did so poorly in the 2016 election, Democrats have blamed any and everything but themselves and the impact of the Obama era’s policies. It was Russia, WikiLeaks, James Comey, etc. They even went as far as to insinuate that Trump voters and Republicans themselves were both racist and uninformed. Nope.
Democrats have not confronted the simple truth that the country is not happy with how the policies that President Obama implemented have impacted them (this does not discount how Hillary Clinton was an incredibly flawed candidate). Nothing is more representative of this than Obamacare.
As the New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz noted on Twitter: “I live in NYC, my universe is almost exclusively liberal, and I’ve never met a doctor who thinks Obamacare was a good idea.” Karol’s experience is far from unique. New York City doctors think Obamacare has only made things worse for all.
It was billed as the panacea for an ailing healthcare system that was not functioning as it should. Yet, Obamacare did not cure the malady, but rather injected more ailments into our health system. Sure, it was well intentioned, but look at the side effects of mandating health coverage across the country. Premiums have risen drastically and deductibles are skyrocketing. It is a recipe for failure.
Source: USA Today
There is no better representation of the detrimental impact of Obamacare than the percentage insurance premiums were to rise in each state from 2016 to 2017. The new 2017 rates were announced by insurance companies in October and early November 2016, just as Americans were being asked to choose the future of the country. They sat around their dining tables, wondering how they would afford the increased cost of health insurance while their income remained stagnant.
On top of that, Obamacare has caused insurance companies to raise their deductibles, especially on the lowest priced health plans. As a result, this created a disincentive for Americans on the lower end of the economic spectrum to seek medical care. With deductibles as high as $5,000, many of these Americans would make the choice to leave their ailments untreated rather than incurring debt they could not afford to pay off.
Obamacare, like many other Obama policies, is emblematic of why Americans are turning away from Democrats in droves. They do not like what Democrats have been selling.
To Democrats, the problem is not their policies and the very real impact they have on Americans, but the actions of others that thwart them.
As long as Democrats hold this misguided mentality and refuse to confront the problems of their own making, they will lose time and time again.