Republicans’ self-hatred swells: The GOP vs. its own base
Rick Santorum is unhappy that older people, who tend to vote Republican, are getting insurance via the ACA
JOAN WALSH
Does any modern political party besides the GOP hold a huge segment of its base in contempt? Ive written a lot about how Republicans have failed to make inroads with Latinos, young voters or women since their 2012 defeat, but whats really interesting is the way they continue to deride many of their older, white, working-class voters, too.
When Mitt Romney insulted the 47 percent of Americans who pay no federal income taxes, he failed to notice that the vast majority of them are white, most of them white seniors, the most reliably Republican voters in the country. A large portion of the people Paul Ryan describes as takers vs. productive makers are likewise older whites. And although Ryan and his party want to turn Medicare into a voucher program run by exchanges, much like the Affordable Care Act they tried to hide that fact during the 2012 race because it was hugely unpopular with their base.
The latest insult came from former senator and 2012 presidential runner-up Rick Santorum. On CNNs State of the Union Sunday Santorum complained that the Affordable Care Act has meant that sicker, older people are getting health insurance (h/t
Crooks and Liars.) Santorum told Candy Crowley and former Gov. Howard Dean:
Well, let me just add that one of the solutions that President Obama tried to accomplish was to let people keep their own insurance. It turns out that a lot of insurance companies are actually allowing that to happen, and that could cause even more problems for Obamacare, because that means fewer and fewer people getting into the exchanges. And the ones who, at least to date, its just facts Gov. Dean, the ones in the system are much older.
full article
http://www.salon.com/2013/12/02/republicans_self_hatred_swells_the_gop_vs_its_own_base/