Conservative journalist Bill Kristol said Thursday the American Health Care Act was "not really well-constructed to appeal to any group of Republicans for any particular reason" and that is why the House vote was postponed until Friday.
"Once it starts to crumble . . . once you lose that, everyone says: 'Wait a second. Why do I want to be for this bill anyway?'" Kristol, editor-at-large for The Weekly Standard, told Jake Tapper on CNN.
"The conservatives in my district hate it. The moderates don't like it. The public hates it.
"If you're a normal Republican, you're heaving a big sigh of relief in hoping that the whole thing goes away."
House Republicans scrapped a planned vote of AHCA and scurried to rally votes for the plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.
The move came after intense lobbying of conservatives by President Donald Trump.
The White House said the vote would be scheduled for Friday morning.
Kristol, who has long opposed the legislation, said called AHCA "a bill that [House Speaker] Paul Ryan and [HHS Secretary] Tom Price seemed to put together based on their vision of healthcare, but not necessarily trying to specifically appeal to either group."
Those groups included the conservative Freedom Caucus, whose members have vehemently ridiculed the plan, and moderate Republicans, who remain wary of the proposal's consequences as mid-term elections near.
House leaders need to take their time to craft a bill that would satisfy those various factions, Kristol said.
"There is no urgency; there is no March 23 deadline," he said, referencing legally mandated cutoffs on such issues as the federal budget or the debt ceiling.
"This modifies Obamacare, sort of repeals it, doesn't really repeal it thoroughly.
"If you're conservative, this is why we were sent here. If you're a moderate, it's 'Why am I taking this tough vote?'
"I don't think we have the normal kinds of things that leadership can use at the end" to win more votes, he said.