A bitter and anxious public is fed up with the inertia in Congress and politicians arguing but getting nothing done. Gallup found that approval ratings for Congress are at historical lows, 16 percent, whereas as recently as February they were at 28 percent.
The last President campaigned on hope and change, but was inconsistent. When running for the Senate, Obama stated at the AFL-CIO Human and Women's Rights Conference (per Politifact) "A single-payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. That's what I'd like to see."
But, by the time he started his Presidential run in April 2007, the Chicago Trib. reported a different take: "He has said he is reluctant to switch to a 'single-payer' national health insurance system because of the difficulty in making a quick transition from the employer-based private system." In other words, he was clearly afraid to make major changes to our healthcare system and guarantee Medicare for all.
Instead, he inexplicably took a conservative program designed by the right wing Heritage Foundation (which feeds Republican policy wonks) and adopted it as his very own.
Romneycare, with its known pros (increased access) and cons (high cost, dependency on private insurance companies), overnight became Obamacare. And, because he was overly idealistic and very inexperienced in national politics, he naively expected GOP support. Obviously, it never came.