Who’s excited about Obamacare? Not Democrats on campaign trail

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Democrats on the campaign trail haven’t exactly been embracing Obamacare. In fact, those who have are in the minority, according to a new study.

Research from the Brookings Institute shows that only 36 percent of Democrats running for House seats this year have firmly showed support for the Affordable Care Act.

The study looked at 1,662 candidates who ran for office during this election cycle.

From Brookings:

We coded candidates advocating to repeal or fully replace the Affordable Care Act (also known as “Obamacare”) as opposing it. Candidates with “Complicated Positions” included those that forwarded moderated positions (i.e. the Act needs to be fixed or simply delayed), as well as those with positions outside the scope of the question (e.g. advocating for single-payer health care). Finally, if the candidate did not mention President Obama’s health reforms they were coded as “No Information.”

Here’s a closer look at the breakdown:

For those with a nuanced position, Brookings points to Ann Callis, Democratic nominee for Illinois’ 13th congressional district.

“Her primary campaign website said that she supports ‘reforms that fix and improve the Affordable Care Act,’” the report states. “She goes on to say, if elected, she will ‘work to preserve sections of the law that ensure no one can ever be denied coverage for a pre-condition, keep the cost of prescription drugs low and that children can remain on their parents’ coverage until the age of 26.’ Note she has chosen the popular pieces of the law and that there is no mention of the controversial individual mandate.”

The report also points to internal consistency within the party.

“Progressive and Establishment Democrats are more supportive than Moderate Democrats — but the number of Moderate Democrats is small,” the report states.h/t: The Washington Post

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