Sen. Jeanne Shaheen strongly defended Obamacare during a debate Tuesday, a departure from the strategy many vulnerable incumbents have taken throughout the campaign season of
distancing themselves from the president’s signature healthcare law.
In a televised debate against Republican challenger Scott Brown, the New Hampshire Democrat defended her vote for the Affordable Care Act and answered in the affirmative when asked whether Obamacare was a proud achievement,
The Huffington Post reported.
"I think making sure that almost 100,000 people in New Hampshire have access to healthcare is real progress for people in this state," Shaheen said.
She added that Brown’s desire to repeal the law would deny New Hampshire residents the benefit of a number of the law’s major provisions, including coverage for pre-existing conditions.
"If you listen to my opponent and me, this is a fundamental difference, because I believe people in New Hampshire should be able to get access to health care," Shaheen said, according to the Huffington Post.
"If you listen to what he is proposing, he would throw tens of thousands of people off of their healthcare without any plan to [replace] it. I don't think most people want to go back to a time when they didn't have healthcare."
Last year, Shaheen criticized the
botched roll-out of HealthCare.gov and called on the Obama administration to extend the open enrollment period.
Meanwhile, Shaheen appeared to acknowledge the charge by Brown that she had voted with Obama 99 percent of the time, but refused to answer whether or not she approved of the president’s job performance, adding that sometimes she agrees with President Barack Obama and other times she does not.
“Scott Brown talks a lot about one survey and 99 percent of the time I voted with the president,” Shaheen said, according to
the Washington Free Beacon. “But the numbers I’m proudest of are the 259 people now working at the Berlin prison because I was able to get the prison open after it sat empty for two years.”
Earlier this week, Brown criticized Shaheen for publicly dissociating herself from Obama's plan to
grant amnesty and permanent work permits to millions of illegal immigrants, yet failing to take action to prevent him from making an executive order.
Shaheen also got heat for changing her position on whether the administration should impose a
temporary travel ban amid fears about the spread of Ebola. She initially opposed the ban but threw her support behind it this week.
“Jeanne Shaheen must have just taken a poll and realized that she was out of step with the vast majority of Americans who favor a travel ban," said New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Jennifer Horn.
The
latest polls show Shaheen with a 3-point lead over Brown, though Brown had a 1-point lead in a poll earlier this month.