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DonViejo

(60,536 posts) Mon Mar 13, 2017, 04:58 PM Mar 2017

Trump and Ryan fear the GOP faces a 'bloodbath' in 2018. They may be right.

By Paul Waldman March 13 at 12:51 PM

Last week, President Trump told Republicans in a private meeting that if they don’t succeed in repealing the Affordable Care Act, the 2018 midterm elections will be a “bloodbath.” Yesterday Paul Ryan was asked for his thoughts on “Face the Nation,” and here’s what he said:

JOHN DICKERSON: The president has said there will be a bloodbath in 2018 if this isn’t passed through the House and Senate. Do you agree?

RYAN: I do believe that if we don’t keep our word to the people who sent us here, yes.

Look, the most important thing for a person like myself, who runs for office and tells the people we are asking to hire us, this is what I will do if I get elected. And then, if you don’t do that, you are breaking your word.

Trying and failing to do what you said you would isn’t exactly “breaking your word,” but you get the point. Ryan’s main concern, at least as he expresses it here, is with the people who deeply want to see the ACA repealed: the Republican base. He and the rest of his party have been terrified of them for the past eight years, so it’s no surprise that the base’s wrath is still foremost in their minds. But there’s a problem: 2018 is probably going to be a bloodbath for Republicans whether they pass repeal or not.

To understand why, let’s quickly run through the possible scenarios for the midterm elections as they relate to this effort, which will be the most dramatic and vividly emotional of all the legislative battles of the next few years. Ryan is almost certainly right that if they fail to pass repeal, the GOP base will be disgusted with its leaders. For eight years, Republican candidates told them, “Turn out to vote, and then as soon as we get the chance we’ll destroy this law that Barack Obama cast forth from the very fires of hell.” The base responded, delivering Republicans the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/03/13/trump-and-ryan-fear-the-gop-faces-a-bloodbath-in-2018-they-may-be-right/?utm_term=.23cc6d1d5492&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1

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Trump and Ryan fear the GOP faces a 'bloodbath' in 2018. They may be right. (Original Post) DonViejo Mar 2017 OP

A better plan... Blanks Mar 2017 #1

They are going to have to rely on the efforts of their President gtar100 Mar 2017 #2

I'm not sure I understand. Or maybe they don't. Aristus Mar 2017 #3

Exactly. Where would the rabid repealers go, even Hortensis Mar 2017 #4

Blanks

(4,835 posts)

1. A better plan...

Reply to DonViejo (Original post)

Mon Mar 13, 2017, 05:05 PM

Mar 2017

For the republicans, might have been to actually work on something instead of just railing against Obamacare.

Had they only known.

gtar100

(4,192 posts)

2. They are going to have to rely on the efforts of their President

Reply to DonViejo (Original post)

Mon Mar 13, 2017, 05:09 PM

Mar 2017

Putin.

Aristus

(66,434 posts)

3. I'm not sure I understand. Or maybe they don't.

Reply to DonViejo (Original post)

Mon Mar 13, 2017, 06:35 PM

Mar 2017

I think it's going to be a bloodbath for the Republicans if they do succeed in repealing the ACA.

Now that their bone-stupid constituents have awakened to the fact that "Obamacare" and the ACA are the same thing, they're not going to like losing their health insurance lifeline.

If, for example, states like Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania don't turn a recognizable shade of blue in 2018, I will be very much surprised.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)

4. Exactly. Where would the rabid repealers go, even

Reply to Aristus (Reply #3)

Tue Mar 14, 2017, 06:15 AM

Mar 2017

if there were half as many as he's pretending? Ryan has to worry about failure to get and keep control for 2018 and that voter turnout could drop, and this is just him pretending to represent "the people's" wishes.

He wants to take away all they gained under the ACA, while they imagine he's just pretending to do that by giving it a new name and not requiring them to pay for it. The longer he can keep them fooled,... Wonder if he lulls himself to sleep with fantasies of providential terrorist attacks.

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