Will Healthcare Vote Be Poison Pill For California Republicans?

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Republicans won the day, but it was the Democrats who did the taunting.

The American Health Care Act was approved by the House of Representatives along entirely partisan lines Thursday with 217 Republicans supporting it and no Democrats voting for it. Republican legislators had just begun shaking hands and congratulating one another on repealing Obamacare when the chorus began echoing across the chamber: “Na, Na, Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye”

While openly bitter about the repeal of Obama’s legacy, Democrats surprised their colleagues on the right with their glee in predicting the bill would spell doom for Republican control of Congress. In the current political climate, nothing is certain. But there is one thing both parties agree on — the political landscape just got treacherous for vulnerable Republicans, the bulk of them from California. All 14 of the state’s Republican legislators approved the bill, but half of them represent moderate districts that voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The poster child for vulnerable Republicans is Congressman Darrell Issa. The nine-term congressman spent years winning elections handily before barely edging out his Democratic rival with 50.3 percent of the vote on the same day that conservative Orange County voted for Clinton, the first time the county went for a Democrat since Roosevelt. Issa won by the smallest margin of any legislator in the nation. Coincidentally, he cast the 216th vote for the healthcare bill, putting it over the top and irrevocably tying his image to the American Health Care Act.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Issa is one of five Southern California Republicans Democrats are targeting with ads set to be released Monday hammering them for the Obamacare repeal.

“What happened today is devastating for Darrell Issa’s reelection bid,” Parke Skelton, a strategist for Issa’s Democratic rival Mike Levin told the Los Angeles Times.

“He voted to have a massive tax reduction for the wealthiest among us, like him, rather than preserve access to affordable healthcare,” Levin told the newspaper.

If Issa thinks his vote could hurt him, he’s not letting it show.

“Today, we made good on our promise to repeal and replace Obamacare,” Issa said in a written release. “Let's stop pretending Obamacare is going to fix itself or that somehow, someday, it’s going to get better. Today's vote gives a voice to the victims of Obamacare, the millions of Americans who are paying higher premiums, receiving less coverage and for whom the status quo offered no end in sight. Obamacare is doing real harm to California's families and struggling businesses, and constituents are counting on me to deliver real relief. Obamacare was a failure from the get-go. Now is the time to make it right."

Voters may not see it that way. Less than 20 percent of Americans said they approved of the previous version of the American Health Care Act. Polls were not available for the bill passed Thursday because it was introduced and voted on so quickly - without a single committee hearing or analysis by the Congressional Budget Office. The Congressional Budget Office had estimated that the April version of the bill would cause 24 million Americans to lose healthcare.

Republicans such as Issa are in a sticky position. For years, they had promised their base to repeal Obamacare. But support for Obamacare grew steadily as it came under threat, ending April with a 49.6 approval rating, according to Real Clear Politics. With tens of millions predicted to lose health care if the Senate approves the bill, the electorate could be in the mood to purge those responsible come the 2018 midterms.

According to the Associated Press, the other most vulnerable California Republicans who will have to answer to moderate constituents include Mimi Walters (Irvine), Jeff Denham (Turlock), Steve Knight (Lancaster), David Valadao (Hanford), Dana Rohrabacher (Huntington Beach), Ed Royce (Fullerton).

It’s unclear at this point if the bill would pass in the Senate. But when California’s representatives cast their votes, they cast the die, and in two years, voters will decide if the gamble paid off.

Photo: Youtube screengrab