NRSC challenges Dems to hold O-Care town-halls

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is challenging vulnerable incumbent Democrats to hold a series of town-halls on President Obama’s healthcare law.

In a morning email, communications director Brad Dayspring wrote that Democrats should agree to discuss the merits of the reform law at length if they choose to call it a success.

{mosads}”If ObamaCare was such as success wouldn’t vulnerable Democrats like Mary Landrieu, Mark Begich and Kay Hagan be barnstorming their states celebrating it?” Dayspring wrote.

The candidates he referred to are Democratic senators from Louisiana, Alaska and North Carolina, respectively.

The email was interpreted as a sign that the NRSC is doubling down on ObamaCare attacks even as some polling shows opinions of the law starting to soften.

Red-state Democrats are also in better shape than some predicted, according to four new polls by The New York Times and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The survey found Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), a top target for the GOP, leading Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) by 10 points, for example. 

Republicans are certainly in a tougher position on ObamaCare than they were last fall, when HealthCare.gov and the Obama administration were both mired in dysfunction over the reform’s rollout.

Now, the White House is pointing to the millions of people who have gained coverage under the law as a sign of its success.

Still, incumbent Democrats face a serious challenge in defending their support for the law to voters who oppose it. ObamaCare remains largely unpopular, particularly in states that backed Mitt Romney for president in 2012.

Dueling strategy memos released to The Associated Press on Wednesday furthered debate between the two sides on Wednesday.

In a memo to candidates, Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski reportedly attacked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for his denunciations of the Koch brothers.

Charles and David Koch are conservative billionaires with influence in election campaigns through their support for groups like Americans for Prosperity.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, meanwhile, argued that the Koch attacks signal the GOP is not making headway with its campaign against ObamaCare.

—This post was updated at 5:28 p.m.

Tags Harry Reid Kay Hagan Mark Begich Mark Pryor Mary Landrieu Tom Cotton

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