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Dem House candidate runs from past single-payer support after Obamacare debacle

Dem House candidate runs from past single-payer support after Obamacare debacle

Martha Robertson, an Emily’s List-backed Democrat in NY-23, supported single payer for years … but is backing away now.

We have highlighted the race between Republican Rep. Tom Reed and Democratic challenger Martha Robertson in NY-23 many times. In part because it’s my home district, but mostly because it is a swing district which leans Republican but includes liberal Tompkins County, making it competitive. It’s not hyperbole to say the upstate NY districts like NY-23 will be key to Republicans holding the House by a comfortable majority.

Robertson’s problems with an apparently false fundraising claim that “GOP Ops” tried to take down her website during a crucial fundraising period gained statewide and even national attention. Legal Insurrection broke that story.

Robertson said the campaign would hire a forensic investigative team, but the campaign has not responded to my email seeking an update as to whether a firm was hired and the status of the investigation of the alleged hacking.

Robertson also is receiving local media attention for her years-long support for single payer, another story Legal Insurrection broke:

I predicted that Robertson would have trouble with single payers support in the wake of the Obamacare debacle, and sure enough, she’s running away from her past support for single payer.

The Buffalo News reports on the controversy:

The Democratic candidate who’s challenging Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, favored a single-payer health care plan before Congress passed Obamacare, and Reed is making an issue of it.

Days after a YouTube site called “Legal Insurrection” aired a compilation of years-old videos in which Martha Robertson endorsed a health system run entirely by the federal government, Reed on Monday said that’s a stance that should worry voters.

“In my opinion, that’s government-controlled, government-run health care, and I think that’s the wrong policy for America,” Reed told reporters on his weekly conference call. “It’s problematic and it’s something the voters should be aware of. If you put her position on single payer health care out to the American people as well as the voters of the 23rd congressional district, it would be resoundingly rejected.”

The video shows Robertson saying that the American health care system “needs to be single payer.” She also portrayed Obamacare as a path to a government-run health plan, saying: “We’ll get to single payer soon.”

Asked about those comments on Monday, Robertson said she now favors “fixing the Affordable Care Act” rather than replacing it with a single-payer plan.

Actually, the footage was not old.  It was from 2009-2011.  Local news also reported:

On top of all this, Stuart Rothenberg had a pretty damaging assessment of Robertson’s prospects as a devoted progressive in a moderate district. I’ll have more on that in a later post. Spoiler: Her “favorite fuel” is “Conservation”.

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Comments

Donald Douglas | November 22, 2013 at 2:37 pm

William, the NRCC’s running coverage of #NY23 with your video!

Check it here: ‘Leftist Democrat Martha Robertson Running Away from #ObamaCare in #NY23’.

    Another Voice in reply to Donald Douglas. | November 23, 2013 at 6:06 pm

    Congressman Tom Reed needs to keep this message out front continuously from now through election. To keep hearing Robertson’s position on how she views the role of government, i.e. Obamacare and her endorsement of over reach on the individual.

    The 23rd District is made up of 11 southern border counties going west to Jamestown, where the economy and employment factors more strongly. Cornell U., Ithaca, NY, owns 45% of Tompkins County and is tax exempt to county and local tax revenue. The liberal College and State University not only drives the economy but also dominates the politics for the county and local governments all but a few local boards. Robertson’s progressive drive for Congress has deep pockets and she would be taking more progressive liberal agendas to Washington and all but ignoring those in the balance of the district.(As she so well projects in her clip)

Single-payer, as well as Obamacare, ignore the problem: economic development. As well as the high cost of medical care and related products and services, which may be the cause or compensation for structural deficits in our economy and government.

    Bruno Lesky in reply to n.n. | November 22, 2013 at 11:05 pm

    Her favorite fuel –“conservation” — also saps this depression region of potential livelihoods from fracking.

Lucky for Reed to be running against this dumb cluck again.

    Another Voice in reply to Estragon. | November 23, 2013 at 6:18 pm

    The margin last election was not a rout..less 10%. Unless everyone, emphasis everyone, gets on board with Tom Reed, it’s not a walk in the park for him..She has deep pockets via Cornell, Washington and the need to take a progressive to Washington for Tompkins County.

BannedbytheGuardian | November 22, 2013 at 3:31 pm

What has happened to NY hairstyling? Perhaps she goes to NJ .

Single payer only sounds good to morons. This woman was for it as long as her base wanted it. Reality always sabotages utopian plans.

I will never understand these people who can live with their lies.

Say what you think they want to hear then do what you want when elected is the way to go, says Martha of the Large Choppers.

This woman is a LOSER.

First the November 2014 election has to play out.

You can guess all you want to how people with vote. But if we were in a Roman Forum I’d bet most of the thumbs turn down.

There also doesn’t seem to be any way to put this back together again.

For years, now, politicians have been wanting to see INFLATIONARY PRICES RISING! Following the collapse of real estate back in 2009 … RISING PRICES was supposed to be the “cure.” Housing would come out of its slump. And, there’d be money spread around.

Almost a trillion was spent by Obama as “stimulus.” Too bad all it did was spread among his friends. The types that built the health care Trojan Horse … thinking they’d all see DC taken over by their own kind. And, everybody else would be enslaved.

So far, Americans aren’t throwing money at this machination. Will health insurance ever go back to where it was? (Hardly likely it will ever go back to being something anyone pays for out-of-pocket.)

But the market place can do funny things. Price something too high … and sales DROP.

Wages aren’t moving.

What will Christmas bring?

And, even if politicians lose in 2014, doesn’t mean they can’t line their pockets as they get tossed out the door.

What if, ahead, Obama gets the same reception now only reserved for Jimmy Carter, and the Bush fellas?

[…] Ms. Robertson is turning out to be yet another of those political hopefuls who apparently wasn’t aware that we had cameras way back in 2009 and methods of storing the images and sounds they record. As Professor Jacobson reports at Legal Insurrection, Martha was caught on camera just a few years back supporting something different than Obamacare… she was ready to go all in on a national single payer plan. […]

Why does every left woman have to make herself look so dumpy? It’s a signaling mechanism I think. But it’s so ugly and unpleasant.

Robertson spent years showing Tompkins voters just how liberal she is. So, now, notwithstanding video, she has to pretend to 23rd District voters that she is a “moderate”. Tompkins residents who know her record please comment on it in the media in Olean, Salamanca, Dunkirk, Elmira/Corning and in the Buffalo market. When the rest of the District learns the facts about Robertson, they’ll vote for Reed.

[…] who doubts the devastating impact of ObamaCare’s failure need look no further than NY-23 where Democrat Martha Robertson is trying to run away from her previous support of the policy. This is a “purple” district that, on paper, should be competitive for Democrats, but […]