Kaine: We’re ‘Very, Very Glad’ to Make November About Health Care Repeal

On a conference call with reporters Thursday, DNC Chairman Tim Kaine said he would look forward to a midterm election battle centered on the repeal of this year’s landmark health care reform bill.

I asked Kaine if Democrats are worried about the Republican “repeal and replace campaign.” He responded, “We’re going to take very seriously these threats,” adding that if “repeal is what they’re pursuing, we are very comfortable with that.”

Kaine explained: “If the Republicans want to make November about ‘bring back pre-existing conditions, kick college graduates off their family insurance policies, take away tax credits from small businesses, and seniors give your rebate check back’ – we’ll be very, very glad to make the November elections about this.”

On May 27, House Republicans introduced a bill, backed by party leaders, to repeal the sweeping health care law enacted in March and replace it with their alternate proposal from last November. Given its extremely slim prospects, which even some Republicans admit, it appears to be a political tactic to galvanize the conservative base ahead of the midterms.

While the health care bill grew unpopular by the time of enactment, recent polls say Americans prefer to give it a chance and amend it along the way rather than scrap it.

Sahil Kapur is Washington correspondent for Raw Story and a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and The Guardian.