What Went Down On Night 2 Of The RNC

As far as health care is concerned, the convention is focusing a lot on the 2018 Right to Try law and prescriptions drug prices. Prescription drug spending makes up only 10 percent of health care spending in the U.S. and “right to try” is not something that applies to many Americans. Trump had said he would have a comprehensive health care plan out this month, but it hasn’t been released yet. Americans generally trust Democrats more on health care and disapprove of Trump’s handling of the issue by double digits.

Right to Try, a 2018 law that allows terminally ill patients to access experimental drug treatments before the drugs are out of the approval process, is getting another shout-out tonight in Pence’s video. I think tonight’s speaker explained it much better than last night’s — which is important, because I don’t think it’s a widely known piece of legislation. I’m a little confused by why it’s getting so much play. Maybe it seems like an appealing idea? Or maybe it’s a testament to how few banner pieces of legislation have passed during Trump’s presidency?

Republican House candidates outperformed Trump in 2016 and Trump has never been particularly popular. If we are evaluating the counterfactual where a generic Republican like Pence had won in 2016 and then established a somewhat normal administration, I would guess the generic Republican would be in much better shape for reelection.