The problem with Obamacare is not that it is called ‘Obamacare.’

(H/T: @seanhackbarth) Kathleen Sebelius, of course, has this precisely backwards.

Sebelius, who resigned in April following the botched roll out of President Barack Obama’s signature health law, said that current issues involving the Affordable Care Act have to do with its commonly used name.

“Obamacare, no question, has a very bad brand that has been driven intentionally by a lot of misinformation and a lot of paid advertising,” Sebelius said.

Obamacare didn’t fail because people said mean things about it. People said mean things about it because Obamamcare failed. I will acknowledge that people were saying bad things about Obamacare before it failed, but that doesn’t mean that we caused it to fail.  It means that we were very smart people who could see the train wreck coming long before the train wreck actually occurred.

I’m sorry (actually: no, I’m not) that Kathleen Sebelius wrecked her political career and reputation for the sake of a pathetically bad health care rationing system.  She should take some comfort (actually, I don’t care if she does or not) in knowing that she’s not exactly the only person in this position: many a Democrat has been blighted by this mad obsession with validating Hillarycare after the fact.

…What? I thought that the Democrats wanted to force a name change. Fine.  We’ll go back into history to find one, then.

Perhaps I should expand that a little.  You see, what the 2006 election was actually about was the Democrats’ desperate need to make things go back to the way that it used to be, in those far-off days in 1994.  The Democrats had a system.  They’d win their elections, then come to Washington, then work their way up the ladder to a suitable chairmanship.  And then they’d keep their jobs forever, or until they were ready to become lobbyists.  And they’d always be in charge, because that’s what happened.  Democrats ruled the House of Representatives; had done so as far back as people could remember.

1994 shocked and terrified the Democrats, because suddenly they were stuck being Ranking Members on the committees – their committees – and they didn’t like that at all, at all. Trying to figure out what happened, the Democrats decided to readdress their steady disassociation from working class voters – HA!  No, they decided that their great mistake was not passing Hillary Clinton’s horrible health care plan.  They were absolutely certain that this is what happened, which is why House Democrats dropped everything and passed Obamacare, just as soon as they controlled Congress and could ram through legislation.

…And then it blew up in their face.  Again.  So the Democrats decided that the problem was with them – HA! HA! HA! No, it’s clearly the Republicans’ fault.  Or the voters’.  Or the Reptoids from the Hollow Earth, I suppose.  Anybody but the Democrats themselves. And they’re taking this tack because if it’s just a branding problem then the Democratic party didn’t spend the last two decades telling themselves lies.  So, fine: let’s test that.  Call it ‘Hillarycare,’ and see what happens (yes, we know what will happen).

And no doubt Democrats will try to explain that away in another twenty years. Something to look forward to for my retirement…

Moe Lane (crosspost)