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Obamacare matters in the current election not only because its future is at stake but for what its passage tells us about Obama as a leader. He is stubborn, which can be an admirable trait when applied to the public interest. But on health-care reform, Obama combined stubbornness with ideological predictability and partisan ruthlessness — imposing a very conventional liberalism in the Chicago way.
Obama tends to overestimate his own negotiating skills with Congress, which are poor (and were also displayed in his failed attempt to achieve a grand budget compromise in 2011). When the ideological stakes are highest, Obama jettisons bipartisanship with little thought or regret. He was perfectly willing to reorganize one-sixth of the economy on a party-line vote. He has employed tactics that ensure future partisan bitterness. His persuasive powers on the issue of health care turned out to be limited. The more he spoke, the less public support he found. But he proved incapable of creative ideological readjustment.
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Obamacare is the most despised law ever imposed on unwilling voters. Approximately 54 percent or more want it repealed. It is unlikely that any of that 54 percent will vote for Obama this time. That number maybe pretty close to Romney's total.
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