Though the term ‘Obamacare’ has carried pejorative associations since its debut into the zeitgeist nearly two years ago, supporters of President Obama’s landmark healthcare bill have been recently wearing it with pride. So when did the left start embracing the term originally designed to insult the reform?
Not too long ago, actually.
“It meets the voters where they are,” said deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter. “It’s a word that is hugely popular with our supporters, who will fight to the end to defend the law,” she said.
At first, there was something of an unspoken mum on the term among supporters of Obama’s healthcare overhaul. As of last Friday, the ban was seemingly lifted with an e-mail sent out to supporters, saying “Happy birthday Obamacare,” and stating that “Obamacare” is “something to be proud of.” Left-leaning activists and supporters are now shouting, “We love Obamacare” carrying signs stating the same in a gathering outside the Supreme Court. “It just rolls off the tongue much easier than ‘We love the Affordable Care Act,’” one supporter explains.
“The word has moved into common usage,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an expert on political communication at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center. “They can’t afford to have their candidate’s name tied to socialism, rationing and death panels. That means they’ve got to claim it and embrace it.”
The president’s re-election campaign has also embraced the term originally thought up by those not in favor of the bill to trivialize and insult it, but it was a decision that they did not arrive to easily. But the campaign did ultimately choose to turn that frown upside down and spin the word, making it work for them in a form of “rhetorical jujitsu” according to Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an expert on political communication at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center. The campaign tested use of the term ‘Obamacare’ at fundraisers, and after finding warm response, has fully implemented it. It’s even selling “I Like Obamacare” t-shirts.
“The word has moved into common usage,” said Jamieson. “They can’t afford to have their candidate’s name tied to socialism, rationing and death panels. That means they’ve got to claim it and embrace it.”
Looks as though they’ve done just that. The term Obamacare is everywhere you look (and will continue to be come election time) but now it works for the left instead of the right.
