Scott Sobel and Elliot Carter, kglobal

Politics is not a game for most of us and the politics about health care – political posturing that literally has life or death consequences – is certainly nothing to smile about or to celebrate when you chalk-up only incremental wins. Yet, here is what happened last week.

• The House narrowly passed their American Health Care bill 217 to 213 to replace and repeal the current Affordable Health Care Act (“Obamacare”) without any Democrat votes.
• The White House celebrated the vote as a huge win. Congress members marched onto a bus for a short but gleeful road trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue where President Trump featured one of the biggest smiles during the photo-op.
• Many Democrats celebrated the schadenfreude of the vote. They are pointing out that this unpopular bill – a 17-percent national approval rating according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll - makes Republican’s vulnerable in the next election. Some Dems actually sang, “Na na na na / hey hey goodbye” on the House floor (referencing what they believe will be the Republican electoral suicide when voters learn about the details of the new Republican bill just passed).

The back-slapping and fist bumps from both sides of the aisle strike most of us as way premature and tone-deaf despite White House rhetoric and the Dems’ self-satisfied reaction. The process now hits a restart button and most pundits figure the House bill now passed is DOA in the Senate.The Senate is writing their own health care bill, which will have to go back to the House for another vote. There is no end in sight for how or when new law or regulations will finally be enacted, if ever. There is also no end in sight for the final version and future of the ACA in its current state.The Republican backers of the new bill are saying the news last week is a step in the right direction toward individual and state’s choice and insurance premiums will decrease if their bill is passed. The Democrats acknowledge the current ACA can use improvement and every citizen should be entitled to health care, even for pre-existing conditions, while House Republicans counter their new bill actually does provide coverage for pre-existing conditions. Democrats support the philosophy that all citizens are entitled to universal health care and most congressional Republicans believe many taxpayers are gaming the current system and shouldn't be entitled to anything they don’t earn. On and on.What is indisputable is that both sides of this debate have incited the American people to be even more critical of politics and politicians. The often-times flawed coverage by many of the news media outlets doesn’t help the nation’s feeling of security or lack thereof. It doesn’t matter if you get your news from the Washington Post or Breitbart.com, the polls show the American people are not trusting or happy about the results of the health care fight.So, what can be done to sell your health care position if you are a big D or R?Stop:Stop celebrating and spiking the ball in the partisan end zone. Maybe political insiders and the niche opinion talk show pundits are making hay off of the controversy and visibility but the man or woman on main street or making a living in the fields or sitting for hours in an emergency room anywhere are NOT SMILING.Stop quoting fake news or unsubstantiated statistics. Some of us will vote down the party line no matter what, but many Americans, especially those undecideds during the last national election, are sick of being lied to and are starting to do their homework. Watch the local town hall meetings during the next congressional recess when the voters meet their congress members.Stop playing only to your base.Start:Start reflecting the seriousness of the health care issue in your demeanor in public. This fight is not a sporting event. And if both political parties, and the news media, want to regain more of the public’s trust, you have to stop presenting issues as a we-won-and-you-lost proposition because then everyone is a loser.Start referencing facts that can be checked, verified and are universally interesting to everyone. Use more real life people to provide testimonials about their living experiences. People do not generally trust politicians and news media these days. They trust people they know or circumstances they can relate to. We don’t want to see smirking politicians or giggling pundits give their opinions about a health care system that doesn’t affect them.Start demonstrating how you, the elected official, share in laws and outcomes. Health care shouldn’t be an academic debate. Show examples of how your position affects your constituents, even you or your family. Think how much more credibility your public position would have if you or your family relied on the same health care as you support?The time for political parties partying after hypothetical wins and pyrrhic victories is past. Be patient and wait for true victories and real people to tell your stories and stop trying to fill the latest news hole or Twitter opportunity. Shoot for substance to convince your audiences and methodically rebuild what we all have lost, trust. [author]About the Authors: Scott Sobel is Senior Strategy and Communications Executive at kglobal, a full-service communications firm that influences public policy, increases market share + builds awareness for our commercial and federal clients.  He is also a former corporate public relations practitioner; major market and TV network police and investigative journalist and a media psychologist. Scott.Sobel@kglobal.com; www.kglobal.com.Elliot Carter is a communications specialist at kglobal where he assists clients in the think tank and defense sectors. Elliot.Carter@kglobal.com; www.kglobal.com. [/author]