Democrats have second thoughts on Obamacare schedule

Kimberley Strassel:

Jeanne Shaheen doesn't sound like a Democrat who just won a government-shutdown "victory." Ms. Shaheen sounds like a Democrat who thinks she's going to lose her job.

The New Hampshire senator fundamentally altered the health-care fight on Tuesday with a letter to the White House demanding it both extend the ObamaCare enrollment deadline and waive tax penalties for those unable to enroll. Within nanoseconds, Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor had endorsed her "common-sense idea." By Wednesday night, five Senate Democrats were on board, pushing for . . . what's that dirty GOP word? Oh, right. "Delay."

After 16 long days of vowing to Republicans that they would not cave in any way, shape or form on ObamaCare, Democrats spent their first post-shutdown week caving in every way, shape and form. With the GOP's antics now over, the only story now is the unrivaled disaster that is the president's health-care law.

Hundreds of thousands of health-insurance policies canceled. Companies dumping coverage and cutting employees' hours. Premiums skyrocketing. And a website that reprises the experience of a Commodore 64. As recently as May, Democratic consultants were advising members of Congress that their best ObamaCare strategy for 2014 was to "own" the law. Ms. Shaheen has now publicly advised the consultants where they can file that memo.

In the Senate, West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin is working on legislation to delay the individual mandate's enforcement for a year. CNN reports that all 16 Senate Democrats up for re-election are expected to support Ms. Shaheen's proposal. In the House, Democratic members are stacking up behind all of these ideas, and more.

Even House liberals have felt it necessary to reassure voters that they, too, are angry—though so far they are merely calling for scalps. "I'd like to see somebody lose their job over this. I think it's outrageous," complained New York Rep. Sean Maloney. "Somebody's got to man up here—get rid of these people," said Minnesota's Rick Nolan. This is presumably a call for a certain "somebody" to do something more than 1-800 commercials from the Rose Garden.

This Democratic freakout has been building for months, even if it was masked by the shutdown headlines and the way the media reported that event. Nationally, yes, the GOP took a drubbing on the shutdown. But next year isn't a national election. It's a midterm that will turn on key states, where polls all along have found disapproval of ObamaCare, the president and his party's handling of the economy.
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There is more.

This follows by less than a week a narrative that the GOP was imploding.  But, the fact is that the Democrats' healthcare law remains very unpopular despite polling during the shutdown battle.  In Arkansas it comes in at 33 percent approval.  The Democrats may have insured the defeat of Sen. Pryor.  The roll out fiasco appears to have blind sided them.  Now they may think Ted Cruz is not crazy after all.