Opinion

BEDFORD: Obama’s retreat from Obamacare

Christopher Bedford Former Editor in Chief, The Daily Caller News Foundation
Font Size:

We’re ten days into President Barack Obama’s much-touted Obamacare Christmas tour, but the star of the show has yet to take the stage.

On Dec. 3, the White House announced that for every day until Dec. 23 — the first signup deadline — the president would travel the country unveiling all the little presents Obamacare comes with. A sort of rehabilitation of his namesake accomplishment, designed to take the fight to the Republicans; a final battle — or “one more campaign.” (RELATED: Mr. Obama’s 21 days of Christmas)

“What the White House is doing is what the White House had hoped they would spend the last two months doing, which is going out, selling the law, selling the benefits of the law,” one former Obama adviser told The Politico. “The fact that they feel comfortable doing that is a healthy sign for the president but also for the long-term benefits of Obamacare.”

Hell, the sycophants at MSNBC got so excited for the 23-day tour that they even made their own Advent calendar.

Except the lights never went down and the curtain never came up. And after seven silent days had passed, the L.A. Times reported that many “supporters of the Affordable Care Act… have concluded they cannot count on the Obama administration, whose efforts to explain and promote the law are increasingly viewed as poorly planned, unreliable and largely ineffective.”

But the president never actually wanted to talk about the alleged benefits of Obamacare. Though that isn’t to say that Obama didn’t want to talk at all. (RELATED: Mandela’s funeral: An incongruous opportunity to preen and pose)

On a somber trip to escape pay respect to the man he credits with his first political activism, Obama spoke a great deal about his own “improbable journey” to the White House. And he shook a few handsAnd he had a few laughs. And he took a few selfies. And he had some more laughs(MORNING BRO vs. Obama’s ‘improbable journey’)

And why wouldn’t he be so merry this Christmas season? Shaking hands with Communist dictators might rile the other side, but it won’t cost Democrats any House seats. Taking selfies at a funeral may be in poor taste, but no one will take that to the ballot box. And it’s always nice for the fanboys to wonder — for the umpteenth time — if a lofty speech shows that the president has got his grove back(RELATED: Obama conscripts Mandela to revive his fading progressive cause)

But most importantly, Obama wasn’t talking about Obamacare (and all of its disastrous failings). Like he was supposed to. Like he said he would.

So let’s see a show of hands for all of the Americans who knew that Monday is Covering-the-Uninsured Day; Tuesday is Covering-Pre-Existing-Conditions Day; Wednesday is Community-Health-Centers Day; Thursday is Children-with-Pre-Existing-Conditions Day; and Friday is Medicaid Day. (RELATED: Obama’s speech at Mandela memorial cost taxpayers $5 million)

And as the president prepares to hit the road for his Christmas vacation, don’t expect White House support for his law to grow any louder, any bolder or more coordinated.

Meanwhile, groups like the Republican National Committee and Americans for Prosperity have maintained their campaigns to explain all of the problems with the law.

It looks like his supporters can’t count on the boss on this one. And as Jan. 1 rolls in, and Americans who enrolled in Obamacare head to their doctors, they better not count on him either. As full sign-ups lag, enrollees fail to pay their premiums and congressional staffers are warned to not expect that their signup worked, it’s going to get worse for Americans — and the president — before it gets better. (RELATED: Morose Obama asks his base for psychological intervention)

But don’t interrupt the president on his personal “improbable journey” — we’re just along for the ride.

Follow Bedford on Twitter and Facebook