Just as the congressional Democratic leadership has begun to struggle to establish an impressive digital presence, the party is beset by growing doubts on drug pricing, the very issue that put them on the map.
Multiple Democrats close to the campaign telling CNN that they plan to drop their “pramface” plans once their party dominates the House and Senate, in one case saying the plans are “dead on arrival.”
“They are being abandoned by the boldest of the policy folks around them,” one Democratic strategist told CNN. “It’s difficult to escape the conclusion that they have looked at their political calculation on drugs and, rather than trying to push a policy agenda, their overriding instinct was to use it as a scapegoat.”
“I think going to the polls has more than proven to be good politics, and this issue wasn’t as important a talking point as perhaps they thought,” the strategist added.
Now, some Democrats are beginning to wonder how to resolve the issue. Several think it could be tackled more cooperatively, with less naming and shaming, and more bipartisan legislation. One Democratic aide said that drug companies could be made to pledge to lower prices, using what they make on a drug and raising prices on new, more expensive versions for consumers.
