Friday, March 21, 2014

Politics of ObamaCare turning KY deep red

Kentucky is a red state with an asterisk because it elects most of its state officials from the Democratic party despite electing nearly all federal Republicans. ObamaCare is about to change that.

After Kentucky Senate Republicans defund the ObamaCare exchange and Medicaid expansion next week, Democratic denial of failed federal health reform will get a brief test and die a swift death. House Democrats have already shown they know they are cooked on this. If leadership tries to push that funding back in, hiding the effort will not be possible.

Several vulnerable House Democrats have already gone on the record in support of ObamaCare, enough to turn the House over to a new Republican majority in 2015. That switch makes the likelihood of a Republican Governor in 2016 go way up, or at least a Republican Attorney General to prevent another round of ObamaCare illegality such as that perpetrated by Beshear.

In any event, anyone who wants to run for either of those two main state offices as a Democrat will have an interesting tightrope act to carry out. Democratic primary voters will want to hear candidates talk about forcing us back into ObamaCare or something like it, and general election voters will be looking for a clear expression of the opposite message.

The only way all this doesn't play out to the advantage of Republicans who want right to work legislation, repeal of prevailing wage mandates, pro-life laws and lower taxes, less debt and eliminated wasteful spending is if Republican senators cave in next week and fail to defund ObamaCare. If you haven't called your state senator, please do.