As flagged by Paul Waldman in the Washington Post, there's an important—if too late—confession in this Washingtonian article.
The confession is that Republican leaders knew years ago that their promise to repeal Obamacare was not an achievable goal, just a way of firing up a credulous base.
“We sort of all got what was going on, that there was this disconnect in terms of communication, because no one wanted to take the time out in the general public to even think about ‘Wait a minute—that can’t happen.’” But, [Cantor] adds, “if you’ve got that anger working for you, you’re gonna let it be.”
It’s a stunning admission from a former member of the party leadership—that the linchpin of GOP electoral strategy for the better part of a decade was a fantasy, a flame continually fanned solely because, when it came to midterm elections, it worked. (Barring, of course, his own.)
What's being alluded to in that final parenthetical is this: Cantor got booted out of office, during a 2014 primary, by a rabid Tea Partier who was pissed that Cantor wasn't doing enough to deliver on his lie / promised repeal of Obamacare.
And here we are, in 2017, with the Republican leader of the US Senate trying to get something—anything—passed related to Obamacare, never mind how many millions will lose health insurance. Because, well, they promised.