This is delicious.
A far right political action committee, Club for Growth, is running an ad targeting Pat Tiberi for “standing in the way” of Obamacare repeal. Watch:
The best part of this, of course, is that not only did Tiberi support the failed bill which would’ve repealed Obamacare, he was one of its biggest champions. Paul Ryan called him the “Quarterback of Obamacare Repeal.” On a recent visit to central Ohio Vice President Pence personally thanked Tiberi for his efforts to repeal the ACA and his attempt to enact AHCA.
Yet here Tiberi is, getting attacked by conservatives who want what he wants. It’s one thing to not pass a bill you wanted to pass, but it’s another thing to fail so miserably in doing so that you get attacked for being an impediment to it passing. Not an easy trick!
Of course, Pat Tiberi could stand up to this ad and call it out for its disingenuousness. He could issue a loud, clear and unambiguous statement saying just how hard he worked to pass the AHCA. He could likewise give a full-throated endorsement to the AHCA itself and vow not to rest until it passes.
But he can’t. He can’t because the AHCA is a bad bill, his constituents hate it and he knows it. His support of Obamacare repeal and the AHCA is political poison. Poison he thought he could survive if he swallowed it quickly, but he couldn’t and now he’s stuck. His district hates the AHCA and will pound him if he tries again to pass it. The conservative PACs hate that it didn’t pass before and will pound him if it doesn’t sometime soon.
This all could’ve been avoided, of course. All Pat Tiberi would’ve had to do was listen to the people in his district and ask us what we wanted. To address the real issues with the ACA and work to fix it. To work for us instead of for Paul Ryan and Donald Trump. He didn’t do that. He hitched his wagon to a couple of guys who do not have the best interests of the people of this district in mind and now he’s getting hammered.
I’m not sure what political pundits call whatever it is Pat Tiberi did to get himself into this mess, but it’s certainly not leadership.
