Politics

Pelosi won’t run on Obamacare: ‘While we’re proud of the Affordable Care Act, we now pivot to jobs’

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Brendan Bordelon Contributor
Font Size:

While Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi took an Obamacare victory lap Tuesday afternoon, she appeared hesitant to make the law the central plank in her party’s push to win in 2014, telling reporters that “while we’re proud of the Affordable Care Act, we now pivot to jobs.”

Pelosi appeared in front of the White House to extoll the expected 7 million Obamacare sign-ups the administration reached before the quasi-deadline on March 31. But when a reporter asked the California congresswoman whether this represented “vindication” and a “turning of the tide” on the unpopular law, she stopped short of declaring Obamacare a winning issue.

“Well let me just say, those of us who fought for this knew what we believed in and really don’t think we needed any vindication,” she responded. “We just had to protect it from those ideological anti-government people who didn’t want to see it succeed — for ideological, or political or whatever those reasons are.”

“Taking the heat on something like that — well, that’s what we do,” she bragged. “That’s like, all in a day’s work.”

And regarding Obamacare’s power to help Democrats in 2014?

“We’ll see,” she shrugged. “I think the fight for the election — elections are always about jobs. So I think that while we’re proud of the Affordable Care Act, we now pivot to job creation.”

“Which is — you know, the bill creates — will create 4 million jobs,” she added. “This is a jobs bill — we never advertise that — it’s a deficit reducer, it’s a job creator. And again, it is affordable, quality care. So maybe it just clears the air a bit so we can have a fuller discussion of jobs. And that’s a place where Republicans have been totally bankrupt in terms of their suggestion.”

Breitbart reports that the White House and Democrats attempted their last “pivot” to jobs in November. Pelosi’s announcement marks the 22nd time a national Democratic leader has tried to reset their party’s focus on unemployment and other economic issues.

Follow Brendan on Twitter

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.