Billing Obamacare as a nightmare is a Republican strategy that could backfire. The nightmare could be theirs, after all.

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Since before it became law, the Affordable Care Act had acquired two things: Its nickname as Obamacare, and its additional tag as a pending nightmare. Opponents of this health care plan for the nation loudly argued that it was counter-productive and far too socialistic for a freedom-loving republic. And not only was it a bad idea for those reasons, it just wouldn't work, either. Obamacare was destined to become a nightmare, they said.

The Nightmare that is Obamacare

The ACA was doomed, said the naysayers, because it was simply too big and cumbersome to work as intended, and the people resented the mandate that they must now buy health insurance or be penalized with a surcharge on their income tax. This, they felt, was an illegal government intrusion that the people would not tolerate. The courts would strike it down. The states would not support this federal legislation. The people would rebel against this illegally encroaching imposition.

Conservatives made up the most ardent opposition to the ACA, despite the original ideas having mostly come from conservatives, and the final bill, itself, being a conservative-dominated version of the law.

Obamacare became the headache and the nightmare of conservatives. But as the opposition closed ranks, their objective was to make certain that this new program became the boondoggle of the liberals who supported it. Democrats would be punished politically for their support of this "nightmare." The rhetoric flowed freely from the ranks of conservatives, who mounted repeated efforts to repeal the law.

When the Supreme Court challenge to the law was summarily defeated and the first phase went into effect, the focus of opposition fell on the new website that floundered aimlessly for far too long. The Obama administration had foolishly placed the development and execution of the website in the hands of a conservative Republican-owned business that had every reason to thwart the smooth and efficient implementation of the program. The resulting difficulties were "proof," for conservatives, that the ACA would not and could not be trusted to provide what was intended without massive and uncontrollable problems and expense. Thus began the Democratic version of the Nightmare that is Obamacare.

Democrats began to edge away from support for the new law and its troubled website. The approaching midterm elections made liberals nervous about possible losses due to their campaigns being linked to the messy start for Obamacare's website. As an albatross, the Nightmare of Obamacare fell heavily on Democrats.

But then a funny thing happened. The website flaws were alleviated, and the implementation of the law began to smooth out. The first month of the initial open enrollment period was a considerable disappointment for the administration and for Democrats. But after that first month, Obamacare enrollment picked up steam. By the close of the enrollment period, the target of 7 million newly insured citizens was passed, as a total somewhere between 8 and 10 million have signed up, most of whom having coverage for the first time.

Despite Republican efforts to discourage advertising any benefits of the law and to discourage citizen enrollment, the ACA has enjoyed a remarkable recovery from its initial clumsiness. Due to benefits received, the public's acceptance of Obamacare is anticipated to increase slowly over time, as did acceptance of Medicare when it was first launched.

During this, ACA's first year, success stories began to roll in, as did supposed horror stories from opponents to the new law. Most if not all of the alleged horror stories have been debunked or revealed as heavily flawed arguments, or essentially paid advertisements from opponents. People with new coverage are seeing benefits that they have never before enjoyed. Support is growing. And when tax time rolls around, support will grow even more, as the tax incentive benefits begin to accrue for those who signed up. As the tax penalty begins to fall on those who failed to sign up, another wave of opposition is anticipated. But that could easily result in a final realization of the cost-benefit ratio, and a mass of new enrollees.

The Republican Party has backed away from its earlier emphasis on repeal. Now, the opposition to Obamacare is more closely linked to the extremism of the Tea Party, as more moderate Republicans begin to focus on other avenues of attack on Democratic candidates in the upcoming midterms.

The Nightmare before Christmas: November Midterms

But what does this mean for the November midterm elections? Polls consistently indicate a majority of Americans still object to Obamacare, but some of the reasons for objecting include dissatisfaction because the new law did not go far enough. Another factor worth considering is the likelihood that many if not most of those opposed to the law probably did not sign up. If opposition and failure to have signed up are positively correlated, that implies that the bulk of the opposition may be coming from those with no direct experience with the new law.

Between eight and ten million voters are now experiencing the benefits of Obamacare, and are more likely to support the party that brought them coverage than the party that opposed coverage. By the time we vote in November, the Nightmare of Obamacare could very easily be a nightmare for Republicans again.

Authors Bio:

Dan Cooper is an award winning freelance writer/editor living in the Texas Hill Country. He has worked in news and sports journalism and is currently working on several projects, including a memoir and the editing of a California Gold Rush diary.