Even before the inauspicious launch of the Affordable Care Act, itâs been consensus wisdom among Red Americaâs chattering class that ambitious Democratic pols should distance themselvesâfar, far awayâfrom the unpopular Presidentâs eponymous health reform initiative.

But while Obamacare remains out of favor here in the Commonwealthâ49 percent of Kentuckians in a February poll called for its repealâthe stateâs implementation of the law has proven an unqualified success. Since its celebrated, glitch-free introduction, Governor Steve Beshearâs KYnect program has secured health coverage for more than 400,000 Kentuckians, representing nearly 10 percent of our stateâs entire population. The stats pose a striking, shining irony here at Ground Zero of Rand Paulâs Tea Party and the home of the presidentâs leading antagonist, Senator Mitch McConnellâand itâs no wonder why the Obamas feted the Beshears both at the State of the Union and at a recent state dinner honoring French President Francois Hollande.
But even as Obamacare found its sea legs nationally and boasted solid first enrollment numbers in recent weeks, it still came as a surprise to local political watchers when a Kentucky Democratic congressional candidate picked up the ACA baton and used it to bash the GOP incumbent that she is challenging. Elisabeth Jensen, the presumptive favorite to take on Lexington Congressman Andy Barr this November, emerged last week as the first federal candidate in the regionâand one of only a few in the entire countryâto broadcast a campaign ad championing health care reform, and attacking her opponent for voting more than a dozen times to repeal it.
In a 60-second radio commercial (listen to it here), Jensen wisely avoids engaging in an ideological or partisan debate that would be counterproductive in a conservative congressional district whose average performance leans GOP by nine percent. Instead, Jensen stokes the stateâs predilection as a bastion of anti-Washington ireâwhich has intensified as Congressional ratings dip below those of cockroaches and traffic jamsâby identifying herself only with KYnect (not Obamacare or ACA) and the governor behind it (Beshear owns a stellar 54 percent approval rating), and by tying Barr to D.C. institution McConnell, whoâs even less popular in the Bluegrass State thanâŚyikesâŚBarack Obama. She also effectively plays the anti-politician card: âI often say Kentucky moms like me get more done by noon than Congress gets done in a week.â
Most significantly, though, Jensenâs ad offers a roadmap for similarly situated Southern Democrats who find themselves in the crosshairs of the GOPâs unrelenting anti-Obamacare barrage. Jensen instructs listeners that the repeal strategy would âlet insurance companies drop coverage, deny care and charge women moreâŚ[and] cancel insurance policies of 400,000 Kentuckians.â
Anxious Democrats have longed for the opportunity to declare a tipping point in the Obamacare debate, when voters would finally recognize that the Republican repeal-obsession would pose significant harm to the millions of Americans whoâve already received coverage under ACA. While that day has yet to arrive, Jensenâs ad may be the first shot in a revitalized battle to seize back the political initiative, to use the health care rhetorical weaponry against the very Republicans who have so far wielded it to their advantage.
To date, McConnellâs own Democratic challenger, Alison Lundergan Grimes, has toed the safer, more common Democratic line, offering to âfixâ Obamacare, instead of defending it. And thereâs no doubt that as national Democratsâ brightest hope at picking up a Republican Senate seatâand even better yet, retiring the polarizing McConnellâGrimes would be foolish to fully embrace the unpopular president and his signature law. But as Al Cross, the director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, posits, Grimes might find traction with Jensenâs careful Kentucky-centric language, charging McConnell with voting to eliminate a successful Kentucky program, âbecause it attacks Washington figures on humanitarian grounds.â
Jensen is in a different political place than Grimes, and her more aggressive stance may indeed be a savvy strategic gambit. Barrâs poll numbers are soft, but heâs only vulnerable to defeat by a first-time candidate if Jensen can marshal the resources necessary to define herself and defend against the inevitable negative ad barrage of Barrâs well-funded campaign. By showing the chutzpah to be an early adopter of a pro-ACA message, Jensen can distinguish herself within the national Democratic donor base thatâs desperately trying to identify viable progressive candidates to diminish the GOP House majority.
To Jensen, however, the decision to be bold was much more personal. The mother of a 10-year-old boy diagnosed with autism, Jensen shares that âthe stress on a family dealing with these kinds of health issues is overwhelming,â and that she believes it is high time for Democrats to stand strong as champions for affordable health care, whatever the political impact. âAfter listening to so many success stories across the district, I understand the importance of KYNect to our peopleâs welfareâŚand Iâm not afraid to lean into it.â
Weâll soon learn whether other red state Democrats will lean in as well. But Jensenâs willingness to approach this political third rail certainly sends a powerful message to the body politic: While the tide is still a ways from turning, Obamacareâs successes in Kentucky and nationally have substantively transformed the political discussion, making it politically viable, finally, for some politicians to embrace reform, albeit carefully and strategically. And if Elisabeth Jensenâs moxie empowers a few more Democrats to shift from defense to offense on health care, the GOP might actually have to find an issue other than Obamacare to run on in 2014.