Why Republicans’ attempts to kill Obamacare keep backfiring

Republicans have tried more than 70 times over the past 15 years to weaken or kill Obamacare. But their campaign keeps backfiring.

The sweeping tax and spending bill President Donald Trump signed this summer got his party closer to that goal than ever before. Though never marketed as a repeal, it unraveled much of the law and is expected to eventually push millions of people who gained insurance since the Affordable Care Act’s passage off the rolls.

Even that legislative achievement is proving politically fraught.

As the partial government shutdown stretches into its second week, the White House and a growing number of congressional Republicans are worried that Democrats’ demand to boost Obamacare as part of any bill to reopen the government is proving salient with voters - including th