http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=4845EA1B-4BC9-4E2B-9AA1-49EB2733282EGov. John Kasich: Obamacare repeal ‘not gonna happen’
By: Sarah Wheaton
October 20, 2014 05:48 PM EDT
Ohio Gov. John Kasich says Obamacare will survive. It’s not clear that the same can be said of his 2016 chances.
Even if Republicans win the Senate, repealing the Affordable Care Act is “not gonna happen,” the Republican governor told The Associated Press in an interview published Monday.
“The opposition to it was really either political or ideological,” Kasich added. “I don’t think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people’s lives.”
Kasich infuriated conservatives when he bypassed the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature to expand Medicaid last year, citing a moral imperative to help the poor. By throwing cold water on an Obamacare repeal, a top campaign promise for Republicans, Kasich could be drowning his own prospects for winning a GOP presidential primary.
He’s been mentioned in a lot of GOP circles as a strong potential candidate. But in a White House race, he’d be competing for support among Republican voters who still hate the law — and possibly with contenders like Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who still promises in his stump speeches to “repeal every word” of Obamacare.
Republican governors have generally taken a more nuanced approach to the health law than their congressional counterparts. Kasich’s neighbor, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, is awaiting a decision from the feds about his proposed alternative Medicaid expansion. Other Republican governors thought to have White House prospects, including Susana Martinez in New Mexico and Brian Sandoval in Nevada, also expanded Medicaid.
And even governors who have been openly hostile to Obamacare have acknowledged that repealing the law would be a challenge. Last year, in an interview with Larry Kudlow, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said he would repeal Obamacare “hands down.”
“But,” he added, “I’d be willing to take a postponement to get things rolling. You know, we don’t have the Senate, we don’t have the presidency. I would take a postponement just to get things on to the next election.”