As she faces a difficult re-election fight in 2014, Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu is standing firm in her support of the Affordable Care Act.
Responding to GOP attacks over her vote for health care reform, the senator told WAFB she would support the bill again.
“The Affordable Care Act, as I said, the bill itself has got very good concepts and, yes, I would support it again,” Landrieu said. “But, that doesn’t excuse the poor rollout of what should have happened. There should have not been a glitch in the software.”
Landrieu has been consistent in her support of the legislation, but she has been an important critic following the program’s troubled debut. After many Americans were kicked off their old insurance policies under the new law, she sponsored a bill to allow those people to keep their old plans.
Landrieu is running for re-election in a state where President Obama got just 40% in 2012. She’s facing GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy and Republican Rob Maness in the state’s Election Day all-party contest. If no candidate tops 50%, the top-two candidates, regardless of party, will advance to a December runoff.
Republicans were quick to seize on Landrieu’s comments.
“For years Mary Landrieu repeatedly made blatantly false promises about Obamaare. Then, when tens of thousands of Louisianans found out that they will lose their health care plan, Mary Landrieu panicked and began promoting legislation that would destroy the very law she claims to be ‘proud’ of,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman Brook Hougesen. “Landrieu is facing a major crisis of credibility. After all the deceptions, lies and broken promises about Obamacare over the last four years, Louisianans have a hard time believing anything that Mary Landrieu says about the unpopular law.”
The senator’s office has not responded yet to a request for comment.
Melissa Frankel