Ben WiklerVerified account

The problem that Nelson faces is that the Floridians who care most about health care were watching the ACA fight very, very closely. They were calling @SenBillNelson's office day after day. They know Nelson promised to protect their health care. They know he kept his promise.

Floridians know that a single additional Republican vote in the Senate would've meant that Medicaid and the ACA—including protections for people with pre-existing conditions—would have been ripped to pieces. They know the stakes.

In race after race, for House and Senate and governorships and attorneys general, Republicans are claiming they want to protect those with pre-existing conditions. But for eight years, the GOP's central message has been its hatred of Obamacare. These Republicans left footprints.

In July 2017, repeal was on the ropes in the Senate. Response? '“Floridians simply cannot afford the high taxes and mandates of Obamacare. This law needs to be repealed,” Scott spokeswoman Kerri Wyland said in an emailed statement.' https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/political-pulse/os-gov-scott-health-care-bill-20170718-story.html …

Every so often, over the years, Scott has paid lip service to pre-existing conditions. But his actions scream louder than his words. If he'd won, you and I would both be at risk. My asthma could prevent me from buying individual insurance coverage. I'm safer because he failed.

Now Scott Walker is running a campaign that, if you'd been in a coma since 2009, might convince you that he wants to keep protections in place. But as Politifact put it, "Scott Walker says he would cover pre-existing conditions, but backs plans that would end protections"

Dana Rohrabacher has voted against the Affordable Care Act 57 TIMES. 57 TIMES. Want me to show you the votes? Okay. Here they are. All 57. https://front.moveon.org/show-me-the-vote/ … It began on HR 2, Jan 19, 2011. That vote would've ended protections pre-existing conditions. And it went on & on.

We might not have long attention spans. We might be forgetful. We might spend too much time on our phones. But we remember danger. And the Republican Party put us in danger, by putting our health care at risk. Their 30-second ads can't erase those months—years—of memories.

Our health care system is shockingly broken in an endless list of ways. It's far from perfect in the sense that Milwaukee is far from Neptune. Not even the same planet. But there's one direction we absolutely must not go: back. That's where the GOP wants to take us. We say no.

The Republican Party wants a health care system, and a government, that works for the Rick Scotts of the world, and abandons the Charlies. In the next two weeks, we get to decide if they win or lose. Don't waste a minute.