Signaling an openness to accept other concessions instead, Republican leadership is backing off its demand that the government shutdown result in the defunding of Obamacare, according to a new report in the Washington Post.

"Republican Party leaders, activists and donors now widely acknowledge that the effort to kill President Obama’s signature initiative by hitting the brakes on the government has been a failure," reports the Post. Noting that Obamacare has "largely disappeared" from Republicans' thinking, the report goes on to describe members of the party as "scrambling" to find a backup strategy.

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The Post emphasizes that both Rep. Paul Ryan and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor recently penned editorial columns asking President Obama to negotiate, while making no mention of Obamacare. In both cases, the focus was on "reforming" social insurance programs like Medicare and Social Security, rather than defunding or delaying Obamacare.

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