DENVER—A Republican congressman from Colorado thinks the GOP will sit on the sidelines this fall while Democrats slug out a proposed overhaul to health care.
Rep. Mike Coffman says he thinks Republicans in the House will have little influence over the health changes that pass the chamber. He says it will be a “blue-on-blue” fight.
“Quite frankly, I think Republicans will be on the sidelines, and Democrats will fight it out” in the House, said Coffman, whose district includes Denver’s conservative southern suburbs.
Like other House members, Coffman spent the August recess in part talking to constituents about proposed changes to improve health care. In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Coffman said Democrats will have to settle for themselves whether the final version includes a so-called “public option” of government health insurance.
In recent days leading Democrats in the chamber have voiced differing opinions over whether the health care changes will include a so-called “public option” of government health insurance.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called the public option crucial to the overhaul’s passage in the House, assauging the party’s liberal flank. But House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said last week that he would be open to a bill without the public option.
Coffman said he suspects the moderate Democrats will win out. That’s because he said Democrats from conservative districts “went home and got the stuffing beat out of them” over a separate climate change bill to limit greenhouse gas emissions, making them less amenable to side with liberals on health overhauls.
Any overhaul will be unlikely to win Republican votes, at least in the House, he said. Coffman has helped sponsor a GOP health bill, but he conceded it has little chance.
Like most Republicans, Coffman said the party will benefit from the Democratic infighting over health care. Coffman predicted big gains for Republicans in congressional elections next year.
“We’ve taken on more than we should’ve taken on. We should’ve taken on one issue, and that’s jobs and the economy,” he said.
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