In state politics, anti-Obamacare attacks continue as outreach ramps up

Some state officials tout their anti-Obamacare credentials as enrollment efforts pick up on the eve of the Oct. 1 opening of new online marketplaces.

The Washington Post: Ken Cuccinelli Launches First Campaign Ad To Focus On Obama Health-Reform Law
With portions of the Affordable Care Act set to kick in next week, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II's campaign for Virginia governor is airing its first ad explicitly aimed at the health-reform measure. The ad, titled "Obamacare," focuses on Cuccinelli's (R) long-standing opposition to President Obama's signature legislation while blaming foe Terry McAuliffe (D) for the measure's perceived faults (Pershing, 9/26).

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Michigan GOP Governor To Washington: Work It Out
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder may be a Republican, but he blames both sides for the bitter partisan fight underway in Washington over federal spending and borrowing, and the shape of the president's health-care overhaul. "I hold all sides equally accountable. I see no value in 'Who did what to whom?'" he said in an interview after a speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute (King, 9/26).

Kaiser Health News: Houston Embraces Obamacare Outreach, Despite Cruz And Perry
Two high-profile Texans are fighting the Affordable Care Act. Governor Rick Perry has loudly dismissed the law, and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz took to the Senate floor this week to rail against it at length -- 21 hours and 19 minutes to be exact. On the other side you have Rosy Mota and her clipboard, standing at the door of a CVS pharmacy in one of Houston's Latino neighborhoods, stopping shoppers. … Mota works for Enroll America, a national organization that has borrowed its tactics from the Obama re-election campaign. Using data-mining and digital maps, the group is figuring out where the uninsured in Houston live, down to the block and house level (Feibel, 9/27).

The Associated Press: HHS Secretary Talks Health Care Overhaul In Dallas
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says she's hoping Texas lawmakers will change their minds about accepting funding for the health care overhaul once its provisions kick in (Merchant, 9/26).