Fun at the Fair and De-Funding Obamacare

The North Georgia Fair hasn’t changed a lot over the years. The corn dogs and funnel cakes are still great. The Libertarians haven’t had a booth in a few years and a company selling piano’s has taken their old space. The fudge vendor is missed. Two petting zoos, instead of one, is a good idea.

The Democrats and Republicans still have a booth, though some things have changed. This year there were no angry visitors to the Democrats booth talking about birth certificates or that WMD’s really exist, but are well hidden in Iraq. Quick ugly little comments about Obamacare were common. There was the nice lady from the Cobb Democratic Women who got a very nasty comment from some guy and naturally returned it with a smile. Then the guy came back later and apologized. His demeanor was like a little boy who had been dragged by the ear to say he was sorry. I suspect the lady on the other side of the aisle staring daggers at him was his wife who had put a vice grip on his ear. If that lady wasn’t a Democrat before, she is now. Rude Republican men created the gender gap and expand it every year.

A lady walking by noticed an Obamacare document on the Democratic table that said about 800,000 Georgians didn’t have health care. Without slowing down she said, “They need to get a job.” If she had slowed down someone might have informed her that most of the uninsured in Georgia have jobs, frequently multiple jobs. But they are jobs that are low pay and without health insurance or affordable health insurance.

As usual a number of Republican politicians came by the Democratic booth, exchanged pleasantries, and asked some questions about Obamacare. They knew FOX talking points but didn’t know a thing about the law and this was their best chance to learn.

Over at the Cobb Republican booth you could sign a “De-Fund Obamacare Petition”. The Fair has been around a long time and Cobb has been conservative to the bone for a long time. Certainly, some Cobb seniors on Medicare had petitioned against Medicare back in the 1960’s. It was like the way little boys don’t like little girls. That dynamic doesn’t last too long. Cobb conservatives were also against Social Security before they were for it.

The Cobb GOP knows that when really good ideas become part of the American fabric, they don’t go away, not Social Security, not Medicare, not Obamacare.  At least the Cobb GOP got a few more names on mailing lists, which was their true intention at the Fair. The Obamacare boat sailed three years ago and the Cobb GOP is pretending that it is still at the dock.

There is only one question left to be answered. How long will it take Obamacare critics to become Obamacare supporters? Social Security and Medicare addressed the unmet needs of a large group of Americans who were primarily poor, elderly, and voted.  Naturally, elected conservatives quickly reversed their positions and became strong supporters of the popular Social Security and Medicare programs and got re-elected year after year by appealing to conservatives who were happy with Social Security and Medicare.

Now, instead of campaigning against Medicare and Social Security, they campaign for smaller government, which is Tea Party talk for the elimination of Medicare and Social Security by privatizing them.

The Obamacare demographic has yet to be fully examined. It will probably be a smaller, younger, more ethnically diverse group that doesn’t vote as much as the Social Security and Medicare generations. Will the Cobb GOP continue to try to reduce the voting rights of Obamacare recipient’s or will they try to get their votes by claiming to be supporters of Obamacare? Stay tuned.