Voters to candidates: Yes, we still care about ObamaCare

Democrats don’t want to talk about it and Republicans running against them aren’t exactly hammering away at it, but a new survey shows that ObamaCare remains among the issues at the forefront of voters’ minds in the 2014 mid-term election.

Several Democrats running in competitive Senate races — including Sen. Mark Udall in Colorado, Rep. Bruce Braley in Iowa, Michelle Nunn in Georgia, and Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky — have tried to play down ObamaCare, either distancing themselves from the law they voted for or deflecting when asked how they would’ve have voted in they were in office when it passed.

The AP/AfK survey found that 80 percent of likely voters say health care is "extremely" or "very important" to them personally. Only the economy ranks higher on issues of personal importance. Voters also give President Obama poor marks on health care. Forty-two percent of voters approve of his job performance on the issue, while a 58 percent disapprove.

Though other issues have dominated news coverage in recent weeks, voters’ concerns about health care aren’t going away. They want to see clear distinctions between the choices on the ballot. In the final two weeks of the campaign, Republicans, who have an opportunity to win control of the upper chamber, should go big and bold on ObamaCare and the disastrous effects its having on the American health care system and the economy.

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