Updated below the fold

Ever since the ‘Affordable Care Act’ was passed through a combination of parliamentary maneuvering, state-level kickbacks, and Congressmen being willing to sacrifice their seats for its passage, the left has sought to distance the horrendously unpopular monstrosity of a law from its chief cheerleader, President Obama. This has included railing against people online and in mainstream media, like ABC’s Jake Tapper, for using (or having been accused of using) the term “Obamacare” to describe the ACA. Describing Obama’s signature legislative achievement with a term that included his name, lefties declared, was engaging in hate speech, parroting right wing talking points, or simply being racist.

Today, that evidently changed, as the Obama campaign sent the following email to supporters:

From: Jim Messina, BarackObama.com
Date: Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 3:33 PM
Subject: I like Obamacare

Happy birthday, Obamacare.

Here’s to two years of making the lives of millions of Americans better every single day.

If you’re tired of the other side throwing around that word like it’s an insult, then join me in sending a message that we’re proud of it.

Let everyone know: “I like Obamacare.”

What’s not to like? Obamacare means you won’t have to pay out of pocket for preventive care like cancer screenings and birth control, insurance companies can no longer drop people when they get sick or refuse coverage for “pre-existing conditions,” and women won’t have to pay more just for being women.

The bottom line is, the more people know about health care reform, the more they like it. So make sure your friends and family know that Obamacare is something to be proud of — and worth fighting for.

Say you like Obamacare today:

http://my.barackobama.com/I-Like-Obamacare

Thanks. We all did this.

– Messina

Jim Messina
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

With this official stamp of approval for the term “Obamacare” from the Obama political machine itself, I will now sit back and await an apology from everybody who previously declared its use
to be beyond the pale.

Seriously. Waiting.

UPDATE: Here’s a follow-up from David Axelrod, with subject line “Hell yeah, I like Obamacare”:

I like Obamacare.

I’m proud of it — and you should be, too.

Here’s why: Because it works.

So if you’re with me, say it: “I like Obamacare.”

Obamacare means never having to worry about getting sick and running up against a lifetime cap on insurance coverage. It gives parents the comfort of knowing their kids can stay on their insurance until they’re 26, and that a “pre-existing condition” like an ear infection will never compromise their child’s coverage.

It’s about ending the practice of letting insurance companies charge women 50 percent more — just because they’re women.

And Obamacare can save seniors hundreds of dollars a year on prescription drugs — and gives them access to preventive care that is saving their lives.

President Obama never lost sight of the fact that this reform is about people. People like his own mother, who spent the last years of her life fighting cancer — and fighting with insurance companies, too.

That shouldn’t happen. And because of Obamacare, it can’t.

So next time you hear someone railing against Obamacare, remember what they’re actually saying they want to take away.

And, today, stand with me in saying, “Hell yeah, I’m for Obamacare”:

http://my.barackobama.com/I-Like-Obamacare

Thanks,

David

P.S. — Side note: Can you imagine if the opposition called Social Security “Roosevelt Security”? Or if Medicare was “LBJ-Care”? Seriously, have these guys ever heard of the long view?