GOP STRATEGY MEMO #246: "HEALTHCARE QUEENS"

Our friends in the insurance industry are telling us that we have got to torpedo this healthcare thing now.

For months we've been telling people that the Democrat party's "public option" plan would result in a "Nanny State," but it's not getting any traction at all. Survey respondents say they don't see the problem with a nanny state. To them, it sounds nice. Sure, a nanny state might be fun- at first, but after a month or two people will get sick of Fran Drescher's laugh and they'll come crawling back to the GOP asking "why didn't we listen to you when we had the chance?" My point is that we can't keep trying to scare people about the bureaucracy or the cost because it's just not moving the needle. Instead, we need to cast healthcare itself in a bad light.

Some talking points:

Healthy people are more active, which as we all know can lead to robbery, homicide- even dancing.

Greedy people are just going to get sick to game the system. Obama's proposal is going to give rise to healthcare queens, people who contract serious, costly illnesses just to soak up federal dollars.

After all that money and effort, Obama's plan will not lower the US mortality rate by even one percent. Americans are headed for disappointment when they discover that they will all eventually die.

Alas, even these gold-plated zingers may not be enough to turn the public's opinion against the idea of being healthy. This calls for a more comprehensive approach, I think. I've talked to our boy Frank Luntz about this and we both agree that we need to push a new nomenclature on this.

The words "health" and "care" both test very, very well, so its deadly for us to even acknowledge the term. The research for this is off the charts. People just really like being healthy and cared for, it's a slam dunk.

On the other hand, folks aren't terribly fond of being treated. They distrust doctors and their frightening tools. And they don't seem to like waiting in lines or paying for things. So, here's what Frank and I have come up with...

When discussing the nuanced and highly complex issue of the government's role in medicine, we must now refer to the Obama plan as "needle-debt" reform rather than healthcare reform. The term is doing great so far in focus groups- especially when Frank runs around the room with a used hypo. When you ask people about the issue framed in this fashion, they say the best way to reform needle-debt is to get as far as possible from it.

Needle-debt. Needle-debt. Needle-debt. If we use the word enough, journalists will start mixing it into their reports, too, in an effort to seem unbiased.

So, in all your conversations and talk show apprarances stop staying "healthcare" entirely. Well, after that last time I just said it. Got it? No more saying "healthcare" - dammit!

(0 votes)