FLOTUS is set to hit the airwaves this week to promote ObamaCare to minority and female audiences. Speaking on the radio shows of Al Sharpton, gospel recording artist Yolanda Adams and Joe Madison, Michelle Obama will be interviewed by three of the nation’s most popular black talk radio hosts.
It’s no accident, but part of a larger strategy to get women and minority groups on board with ObamaCare. The President and Administration are hemorrhaging credibility because of the botched rollout and fundamental problems with ObamaCare. With less than a week before the December 23 enrollment deadline and far behind targets for the March deadline, the Administration is pulling out the stops to get key demographics to sign up.
The Hill reports:
[Mrs. Obama’s] interviews are part of a broader effort by the White House and partnerships with outside groups, faith leaders, and health professionals to encourage African Americans to get covered,” a White House official said.
The first lady’s radio appearances are intended to compliment an afternoon event with the president and mothers who have worked to promote ObamaCare in the Oval Office.
The White House believes women are crucial to their push to get uninsured consumers to sign up for coverage. That’s especially important after the botched rollout of the ObamaCare website prevented early enrollments in the system, leaving the administration playing catch up in the final three months before enrollment closes.
“During the meeting, the group will discuss the critical role that moms are playing in helping their families and communities access quality, affordable health care by encouraging their adult children, family members and peers to sign up for coverage,” the White House official said. “Women are often the health care decision makers for their families and are a key demographic for the ongoing effort to ensure consumers know about the new health benefits available to them under the ACA.”
Women are a concern for the Administration. A Washington Post/ABC News poll released Friday found that half of all women say they oppose the ObamaCare law. And, according to recent Kaiser Foundation polling, support among women for ObamaCare has plummeted over the past year.
Women, who have historically been evenly divided on the law, registered their most negative views on the law to date, with 48 percent saying they have an unfavorable view of the law and 32 percent favorable. The gap between unfavorable and favorable views among women is up 15 percentage points since last month.
We’ve made this argument about young people’s rejection of ObamaCare, and we’ll make it about women too: Americans see that ObamaCare is a bad deal for them. The rollout has damaged the law’s branding but bad PR and website “glitches” only scratch the surface of the problems that have turned women off: higher healthcare costs; broken promises of being able to keep your doctor, healthcare provider and even medications; cancelled healthcare plans; and employers cutting hours of workers to avoid costs.
So FLOTUS and other women in the Administration who are making rounds to TV programs, magazines, and blogs targeting women have their work cut out for them.
Women often drive the decisions of the family unit and for countless households women are the sole decision makers. We are smart. We make calculated decisions for the best for ourselves, our families and our communities. And ObamaCare is not the best for us, our families, and our communities.