A year after Thanksgivukkah, Obama grants holiday break from Obamacare

Remember Thanksgivukkah? In 2013, Hanukkah began on November 27, with Thanksgiving following on the 28th. For the Obama White House, the rare convergence of the two holidays offered an opportunity for the administration to promote Obamacare, then off to an extremely rocky start.

“Make sure everyone who sits down with you for #Thanksgivukkah dinner is covered. #GetTalking,” President Obama tweeted on November 27, 2013, with a photo of the young man who became known as “Pajama Boy” sitting at a table with symbols of both holidays. Next to the photo was the message: “Celebrating Thanksgiving. Lighting the Hanukkah candles. Talking about health insurance. Gotta love dinners like these.”

That wasn’t all. From a post of mine last year:

The administration knows many people will be unfamiliar with the etiquette of discussing national health care at Thanksgiving. So Organizing for Action, the president’s political committee, has created a strategy sheet and suggested talking points.

“Take advantage of downtime after meals or between holiday activities to start your talk,” OFA advises. It’s especially important, the tip sheet says, to use special circumstances that might arise during a family celebration to press the case for health care. For example, one OFA tweet showed pictures of a young man wielding a big knife to carve a turkey. That was followed by a picture of the man with a bandage on his hand. “Food-related injuries happen a lot this time of year,” the message said. “It’s a good time to talk about getting coverage.”

After taking care of a food-related injury, OFA recommends, it’s time for the sales pitch. “Offer to walk them through it: ‘Would you like to take some time with me to sign up right now?'”

“Start by asking, ‘Have you thought about signing up for health insurance on the new marketplace?'” OFA suggests. Then, after going through the steps involved, a more direct question: “‘When do you plan on signing up?'” Knowing that this might not be what many Americans — giving thanks, eating turkey, and watching football — want to do on Thanksgiving, OFA advises its health care advocates to “be persistent, but keep it positive.”

That was last year. Now, even though Obamacare open enrollment is again underway, and even though the administration has lowered its signup target, suggesting it is falling behind on its goals, the president refrained from adding an Obamacare pitch to America’s twitter feeds. While that hasn’t kept some liberal groups from giving it a shot — the Center for American Progress published “How To Talk To Your Tea Party Uncle About Obamacare This Thanksgiving” — the White House has been mostly quiet. Give thanks.

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