July 15, 2010

As Democrats Trumpet Financial Reform, GOP Targets 'Obamacare'

Jill Lawrence
Senior Correspondent


"Much as most Republicans dislike the product, party strategist Whit Ayres predicted voters will hear a lot more about it from Democrats than from Republicans. He said the centerpiece of GOP campaigns will and should be 'Obamacare.' The new health law 'is so much higher profile and affects every single voter directly and personally in a way that financial regulatory reform does not,' he said.

A couple of hours after the Senate vote, as if to illustrate Ayres' point, Boehner sent out a release trumpeting continuing state opposition to the new health law, or as he calls it, a 'job-killing monstrosity.' Democrats, meanwhile, circulated press releases in Louisiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Arkansas and elsewhere attacking Republican senators for 'standing with Wall Street banks' and against consumers in their states...

Some Republicans said the new law would have unanticipated effects on Main Street, such as making it harder to borrow money. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) lamented the new $850 million consumer protection bureau, which he said would be unaccountable and counterproductive. Consumer protection, to make sure people don't get duped, tricked and trapped, was one of Obama's non-negotiables and plays directly into what Ayres calls Democrats' 'friend of the little guy' narrative.

Ayres predicts the financial reform bill won't take Democrats as far as they'd like: 'People are so consumed and upset by what they see as a runaway federal government that's bankrupting the country, that it's going to be hard for the Democrats to get traction on this particular bill.' "


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