Media call narrow McAuliffe victory a major win for Obamacare

@NolteNC @stephenkruiser A win for Obamacare? A still neck-and-neck race against an ultra-conservative is a win?! Delusions never cease…

— Helix Splice (@CharlesdeCharle) November 6, 2013

The race for Virginia governor was never supposed to be a close as it was tonight. Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was expected to trail Terry McAuliffe by anywhere from 5 to 7 points, and yet many are calling McAuliffe’s narrow (projected) victory a referendum on Obamacare. Take Business Insider’s Josh Barro, for example, who was among the first to float the idea that maybe it’s best if you can’t keep that health plan you like after all, no matter what the president promised.

https://twitter.com/jbarro/status/397912995524640768

Try to contain your excitement.

https://twitter.com/ezraklein/status/397918907564294144

McCauliffe victory = HUGE endorsement of Obamacare.

— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) November 6, 2013

VA was a referendum on Obamacare. Dems won despite off-year turnout problems. Obamacare won. It’s really that simple.

— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) November 6, 2013

Really?

.@markos 53 per of Va voters oppose Obamacare. You still calling it a referendum?

— Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) November 6, 2013

Obamacare certainly hasn’t sounded so popular in the polls lately, and in fact, it never did. So is tonight’s election a sign to give up on fighting the Affordable Care Act at the ballot box in 2014?

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I hope Democrats really believe VA was a win for Obamacare. They should definitely run on it in 2014.

— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) November 6, 2013

But really, I encourage Democrats to make every 2014 race a 1-issue referendum on Obamacare. Act like you believe it!

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) November 6, 2013

Please, please, please media convince Democrats ObamaCare won tonight. Please, please, please, please, please, please….

— The Curve Is Bent. Time to Free Us! (@NolteNC) November 6, 2013

https://twitter.com/jbarro/status/397914529507463168

Never let the facts get in the way of your pre-written story RT @jbarro: It seems there was a referendum on Obamacare and Obamacare won.

— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) November 6, 2013