Health care is a hot topic on the campaign trial for both parties, but 37 percent of Democrats running for Congress don't even bring up the subject of Obamacare, President Barack Obama's signature health care reform law, a Brookings Institution analysis has found.
The study of 1,662 candidates running in House and Senate primaries also found just 25.5 percent of Democratic candidates were willing to offer even lukewarm support of the Affordable Care Act.
Republican candidates, on the other hand, were adamantly opposed, with 73.8 percent favoring repeal of Obamacare, the study found.
"The positioning of Republican primary candidates for the House is quite consistent with the position of the current House of Representatives which has voted more than 50 times to repeal" Obamacare, the researchers noted, adding: "These data offer little hope for a more moderate Congress—at least on this issue."
On the Democratic side, "the results were not as clear-cut," the researchers concluded.
"Thirty-seven percent of House Democratic primary candidates failed to mention the Affordable Care Act at all, and a quarter of those offered a nuanced position — usually along the lines of improving the Act or reforming it," the researchers found.
The researchers offered the example of Ann Callis, the Democratic nominee for Illinois’ 13th congressional district, who was described as having " a more complex position" on Obamacare than other Democratic candidates.
"Her primary campaign website said that she supports 'reforms that fix and improve the Affordable Care Act'," the researchers found. "She goes on to say, if elected, she will 'work to preserve sections of the law that ensure no one can ever be denied coverage for a pre-condition, keep the cost of prescription drugs low and that children can remain on their parents’ coverage until the age of 26.'"
The researchers noted Callis' position illustrates she's picked "the popular pieces of the law" to support and " that there is no mention of the controversial individual mandate."
The researchers also found progressive and mainstream Democrats are more supportive than moderates in the party, and that there are "a fair number of Democrats in each category offering a more nuanced position."
"On the Republican side, there is great unanimity across factions with practically no one supporting a more nuanced position," they found.
"While Democrats appear somewhat open to reforming the ACA, Republican intransigence to the act has not dissipated with time — judging from the primary season it appears as strong as ever."