Obama Campaign Touts Health Law, Embraces ‘ObamaCare’ Label

In recent weeks, President Obama increasingly has embraced the federal health reform law as part of his re-election campaign following the Supreme Court's decision in June to uphold the law, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Campaign Details

According to the AP/Chronicle, the campaign has viewed the favorable ruling as a second chance to promote the Affordable Care Act, even though voters remain divided on the law.

The campaign's strategy is to promote the most popular parts of the law -- such as the provision that allows young adults to remain on their parents' insurance plans up to age 26 -- while targeting its messages to key voting groups, such as women and Hispanics, the AP/Chronicle reports.

Obama's re-election campaign also is airing television advertisements in eight highly contested states that highlight presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's opposition to the law's contraception coverage rules (Pace, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 8/6).

Democrats Embrace 'ObamaCare'

Obama and other Democrats also have embraced the term "ObamaCare," which frequently has been used in a negative manner by the law's opponents, the New York Times reports.

Obama first used the term in the summer of 2011, telling supporters during a Midwest bus tour, "I have no problem with folks saying ObamaCares." During a more recent campaign speech in Texas, Obama said, "You know what? They're right. I do care."

Vice President Biden also used the term in a recent fundraising email to supporters, the Times reports (Baker, New York Times, 8/3).