McCain's RADICAL health care plan will defeat him

[LuckyTheDog]

This is spot-on right:

http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/83892/

The health care debate is not about right versus left. It's about McCain's radical scheme to dump our employer-provided health coverage into a ditch.

John McCain will be spending the week promoting his health care scheme. The crux of the plan is to abolish employer-based health insurance and throw middle class working Americans to the wolves. It is market fundamentalism at its worst.

But I'm not here to talk about the policy details. I want to discuss message framing. During an election campaign, when our ultimate audience is persuadable voters, how do we talk about health care?

Let's first understand McCain's frame. His campaign understands one crucial fact (if nothing else): About 95 percent of the voters in the 2008 general election will be insured -- the uninsured don't tend to vote. Extensive polling and focus group research has shown, without a doubt, that people who are insured are more interested in preserving and improving their own coverage than in covering the uninsured. Americans want "quality, affordable health care." But of the two concepts, they are more focused on affordability than on quality.

[unpossibles]

1. one potential issue with his privatization plan

what about employer matching? In essence, even with the "tax rebate" (lol) our premiums will instantly double without employer matching.

[wryter2000]

2. It had better

Whoever our candidate is has to pound him with this one. I didn't know there was a way to make health insurance worse in this country, but he thought one up.

[Juche]

3. He wants to end collective bargaining

With employer healthcare you are part of a group of thousands of workers who bargain collectively to get the best healthcare deals. McCain wants to end that and make it every man, woman and child for themselves against billion dollar healthcare companies. He wants to eliminate the protections that come from collective action so that individuals are largely helpless against healthcare insurance companies.

[Meshuga]

4. That's why I say...

Even if the Obama/Clinton attacking each other goes to the convention the democratic nominee will still defeat McCain.

People are worried about who is doing better against McCain in the head-to-head surveys because, come September, McCain's numbers are going to fall hard no matter who is the Democratic nominee.