American voters have been angry for a long time. The seeds of discontent that finally boiled over in this election cycle have been simmering for years. Healthcare reform has been at the center of these feelings throughout President Obama's terms in office. Until the Republicans retook the White House and maintained control of the House and Senate, there was no path for substantively changing this expansive law and its even more extensive regulations.
In a move that surprised all of the pollsters, most experts, and perhaps the majority of Americans, this is exactly what happened on the 8th of November. This was a notably unprecedented election result.
However, there are some precedents which the President-elect and GOP may do well to keep in mind if they start to craft their repeal-and-replace plans—notably the ACA's passage itself. Much anger was generated in the passage of the ACA because the Democrat super-majority led to a monstrously long bill being passed without a single Republican "aye" vote. Avoiding the appearance of strong-arming Obamacare repeal solely by the "unified Republican government," as House Speaker Paul Ryan recently referred to it, may be an important start towards quenching some of the heat and tension that this country currently feels.
