Republicans Turn Guns On Each Other In Wake Of Obamacare Repeal Fail

WASHINGTON Last months epic failure to deliver on their 7-year-old promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act is causing angst among GOP candidates up and down the ticket ahead of next years congressional midterm election.

While moderate Republicans like Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) are receiving warm adulation from constituents for opposing a bill that would have repealed Obamacare, other GOP lawmakers are facing attacks from their right flank over their handling of the health care debate.

Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) drew a primary challenge this week from businessman Danny Tarkanian, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump , who blasted the senator for failing to support Trump during last years presidential campaign and for obstructing his agenda in Washington, D.C.

That grandstand press conference he had derailed any momentum to get the health care bill repealed, Tarkanian said Tuesday, referring to a dramatic press conference Heller held alongside Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) in which both men voiced their opposition to the initial Senate bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Tarkanian, the son of the late college basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, has mounted several failed political campaigns in Nevada. Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who is also running for Hellers seat, defeated Tarkanian last year.

Heller has drawn the ire of both liberals and conservatives over his shifting stance on health care. In June, after a Trump-aligned super-PAC released ads slamming the senator, Heller reversed course and voted in favor of a skinny version of the bill that would have dismantled key parts of Obamacare.

A poll that a Democratic firm conducted last week found only 22 percent of Nevada voters approved of Hellers job performance.

The inability to repeal Obamacare has also roiled the race for an Alabama Senate seat made vacant by Trumps appointment of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General earlier this year.

Ousted Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore , who is running in the Republican primary, released a television ad on Tuesday defending himself against attacks made by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his allies in Washington, D.C.

They lied about repealing Obamacare. Now Mitch McConnells D.C slime machine is spending millions spreading lies about Roy Moore, the narrator in the ad said.

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