Maybe it wasn't such a hot idea after all for President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats to embrace the "Obamacare" moniker for the Affordable Care Act, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer mused Tuesday.
"Yeah, I wish I hadn't called it 'Obamacare' before, because that has politicized it and has been used by Republicans as a pejorative term," Hoyer, D-Md., said after a reporter noted Tuesday that he repeatedly called the health care law by its formal name.
Despite Republicans and other opponents calling the law "Obamacare" with a snarl or hint of disgust in their voices, the president happily adopted the nickname and urged others to do so.
"You want to call it 'Obamacare' - that's okay, because I do care," Obama said at a 2012 Atlanta fundraiser.
"I actually like the name," Obama said at a 2012 campaign stop at the University of Denver. "Because I do care - that's why we fought so hard to make it happen."
The White House went so far as to ask supporters of the law to tweet why they liked it with the hashtag "#ilikeobamacare." But with troubles with the health care law's roll-out and web site, the White House and and its allies have shied away from uttering the "Obamacare" name.
Now add Hoyer to the club.
"I don't know that we need to re-brand the Affordable Care Act," he said. "We do need to say it is the Affordable Care Act."