Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), who is up for re-election in 2014, wrote to Obama on Tuesday and asked him to delay the enrollment deadline for the individual mandate. “Given the existing problems with the website, I urge you to consider extending open enrollment beyond the current end date of March 31, 2014,” Shaheen wrote to the president. "Allowing extra time for consumers is critically important so they have the opportunity to become familiar with the website, survey their options and enroll.”
On Wednesday, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), who is facing a tough challenge in his 2014 re-election against Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR), came out in support of Shaheen’s call for a delay of the individual mandate’s enrollment deadline. Pryor had previously been on record as supportive of the mandate as is.
Now, according to CNN’s Bash, the Democratic Party is coordinating an effort to support a delay in the individual mandate.
“new: senior dem source tells me to expect every sen dem running in 2014 to back @JeanneShaheen proposal to delay #ACA enrollment deadline,” Bash tweeted on early Wednesday evening.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is on record as supporting a one-year delay in the individual mandate as well, although Manchin is not up for re-election in 2014.
The Democrats' push comes shortly after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) recently launched a crusade against Obamacare. Cruz’s efforts and those of Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) showed the American people the president and Senate Democrats were unwilling to compromise on Obamacare, and the Democrats’ stubbornness resulted in a temporary partial government shutdown and a short-lived debt crisis scare.
Many Republicans, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), have been predicting for months that the Democrats would look for an Obamacare “escape hatch” ahead of 2014.
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