Republicans complained Thursday that President Trump is wasting the power of the bully pulpit as the party struggles to partially repeal Obamacare.
Members of Congress and top strategists said Trump’s limited public engagement is hampering their ability to corral votes for their bill in the Senate. They conceded, with disappointment, that his effort pales in comparison to what former President Barack Obama did to push the Affordable Care Act across the finish line.
“Absolutely, there’s more he could be doing,” a Republican senator told the Washington Examiner. “Tweeting about Mika is not as effective as tweeting about lowering premiums and deductibles.”
The senator, speaking on condition of anonymity, was referring to the spat between Trump and MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski. She and others spent a portion of Thursday’s show mocking the president; he responded on Twitter by ridiculing her appearance in an attack many Republicans called undignified and disproportionate.
Congressional Republicans are heading into the July 4 recess with their healthcare agenda unsettled and massively unpopular.
House Republicans passed the American Health Care Act last month. But the partial repeal of Obamacare is tied up in the Senate, where Republicans are at odds over the Better Care Reconciliation Act. They are concerned about the bill’s impact on their constituents and skittish because it (and the AHCA) polls so poorly.
Recent public opinion surveys showed the AHCA, BCRA, and the Republican healthcare agenda generally at or below 20 percent approval. The latest Fox News Poll pegged satisfaction with the Senate bill at 27 percent, as compared with 52 percent approval for Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
In the Senate, much of the resistance comes from members that represent states that voted for Trump, with grassroots Republicans and, in some instances, a broader GOP electorate that remain quite happy with his leadership.
Through focused, public campaigning, the president could harness that support to ease passage of the healthcare overhaul. In some cases, Trump’s influence might create more political support; in others, he might generate pressure that spurs senators to act.
“The biggest weapon this president has is his ability to whip the base into a frenzy with his extremely outside-Beltway presentation. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why he hasn’t done it,” a senior Republican strategist said.
Republicans can afford to lose only two votes because Democrats are unanimously opposed. Even then, Vice President Mike Pence will have to cast the tie-breaking vote, putting a premium on nearly every Republican’s vote.
Trump’s involvement in healthcare, going back to the House debate over the American Health Care Act, has been limited to private negotiations, with the exception of the occasional tweet storm.
Since the Senate proposal was introduced last week, he has been on the telephone whipping support among opposed or undecided Republicans. Earlier this week, Trump hosted all 52 of them at the White House for a 90-minute meeting to try to facilitate an agreement.
But he has yet to wield the power of the presidency with a speech or vintage Trump campaign rally dedicated to healthcare. His recent campaign-style appearances have been freewheeling affairs, reminiscent of his traveling 2016 road show.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said that he’d like to see Trump use the bully pulpit to push the Obamacare repeal across the line in Congress.
“When we pass our bill, will it be helpful trying to persuade the House to go to conference or take up and pass the Senate bill? That’s a place where I think he can be enormously helpful,” the Texas Republican said.
Eight years ago, Obama waged a relentless public campaign over 18 months to maintain momentum for the legislation that turned into the Affordable Care Act.
Throughout the process, Democrats periodically hit roadblocks. At certain moments, it appeared as though their effort at healthcare reform might collapse amid infighting and low public support that never improved and threatened huge congressional losses in the 2010 midterms that came to fruition.
But Obama, through public speeches, public engagement with Republicans to show that he was trying to write bipartisan legislation, and a demonstrated command of the details of the bill, rallied the support of the progressive base to boost Democrats’ confidence and persuade them to persevere.
“His really earnest and really diligent, though ultimately unsuccessful outreach to Republicans, was critical,” said Jon Selib, who at the time was chief of staff to then-Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., a key healthcare negotiator.
“Everyone in the caucus realized that doing health reform was important and that Democrats were really supportive of it. But they needed to go home and say: ‘Look, the president is trying to work with Republicans.'”
