Let’s hope Sen. Schumer is that stupid. If he’s willing to obstruct legislation that would fix Obamacare, then Democrats will deserve the beating they’ll take during the 2018 midterm election. These aren’t people that are mildly upset. They’re people who are pissed at Democrats for creating this disaster. If Schumer filibusters an Obamacare repair bill, he should expect President Trump visiting Democratic senators in September and October, 2018. Specifically, Sen. Schumer should expect colleagues like Joe Donnelly, Jon Tester, Claire McCaskill, Heidi Heitkamp, Bill Nelson, Sherrod Brown and Tim Kaine to face difficult re-election fights. Tammy Baldwin’s seat is rated as a ‘safe Democratic’ seat even though she won with only 51% of the vote in 2012. If Republicans field an appealing candidate (Sean Duffy comes to mind), that seat is anything but safe after President-Elect Trump’s victory there.
Further, a Trump administration could highlight the Democrats’ obstructionism by granting waivers for all states who want to experiment with something different. The beautiful part about that is the fact that there’s a provision in the ACA that allows the Secretary of HHS to grant such waivers. The ads virtually write themselves. The ads would say something like ‘Sen. Heitkamp voted to create Obamacare. Now it’s costing North Dakota residents millions in higher insurance premiums. You’d think that Sen. Heitkamp would vote to fix this crisis but she won’t. If she won’t fix the mess she created, voters should replace her with someone who will fix this crisis.’
It’s one thing to fight against repealing a popular bill. It’s quite another to fight to save a bill that’s wildly unpopular. Fighting against fixing Obamacare is the political equivalent of making a quick movement towards a cobra.