The TanMan’s PR stunt does not go as planned

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The TanMan, Weeper of The House John Boehner, decided to engage in a PR stunt on Thursday attacking problems with the federal "ObamaCare" Marketplace web site, because media messaging PR is all he can do — he can't pass any substantive legislation or even routine budgets. The TanMan's PR stunt didn't quite go as planned.

Steve Benen reports, Boehner proves the wrong point:

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) wrote a blog post Thursday, highlighting his own personal experience when he “sat down to try and enroll in the DC exchange.”

Like many Americans, my experience was pretty frustrating. After putting in my personal information, I received an error message. I was able to work past that, but when I went to actually sign up for coverage, I got this “internal server error” screen. […]

Despite multiple attempts, I was unable to get past that point and sign up for a health plan. We’ve got a call into the help desk. Guess I’ll just have to keep trying…

As it turns out, his willingness to “keep trying” was a good idea. Boehner, who is not yet eligible for Medicare, “called the DC Health Link help line,” and a “few hours later,” the process was complete. He’d signed up for health insurance.

Doh!

Of course, most of the "lamestream" corporate media reported the TanMan's PR stunt tweets about the difficulties he had on the website, but failed to follow up that he had actually successfully signed up for "ObamaCare."

Oddly enough, the Republican House Speaker didn’t offer any details about his new health care plan. One would assume that if he’d experienced “sticker shock,” or had been stuck choosing a plan he hates, Boehner would have mentioned it.

Indeed, he would have been eager to mention it, since it would advance his larger political goals.

So why was Boehner silent on this point? Probably because someone in Boehener’s shoes would be able to save some money on an affordable plan through an exchange.

This was supposed to be a little p.r. stunt, intended to reinforce the Republican message. It’s almost certainly why the Speaker invited a photographer to document him going through the process. And while it’s a shame Boehner was one of many who ran into website trouble, I have to say his experience doesn’t sound that bad – a guy like him can call a help line, signed up for insurance, and likely save some money, all over the course of an afternoon.

Like Benen said, Boehner proved the wrong point. People can sign up for "ObamaCare" if they stick with it.