State Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, who oversees the content of all health care policies sold in Georgia, has kept a close eye on the roll-out of Obamacare.

We know this because his people tell us so.

What you might not know is that our Republican insurance commissioner has maintained this eagle-eyed vigil from an aerie in Switzerland, where he has been since last week – on “a well-deserved and long-planned trip” with his wife to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, according to his staff.

In other words, to say that Hudgens has kept Obamacare at arm’s length is to be guilty of felony understatement.

But our insurance commissioner’s extreme disinterest in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, punctuated by bouts of outright hostility, has beleaguered Democrats in Georgia wondering if they might be staring a 2014 opportunity in the face.

Tuesday’s opening of a federally mandated health insurance exchange in Georgia was muffled, both by the shutdown in Washington and the scorched-earth policy adopted by Republicans here.

Hudgens’ website offers a minimum of direction to the uninsured on how they can now change their status. As of Monday, only four “navigators” – insurance brokers who can help consumers shop for plans offered on the exchange – had been licensed by Hudgens’ office. Thanks, in part, to the stiffened standards the insurance commissioner has required.

Gov. Nathan Deal’s refusal to accept federal dollars to expand Georgia’s Medicaid program is the largest piece of the GOP effort to stonewall Obamacare. But Hudgens has become the face of Republican resistance.

In July, Hudgens attempted to stall approval of dozens of health plans created to be sold on the exchange, claiming the costs were too high. With a federally mandated deadline only hours away, he demanded that Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, grant a 30-day delay. In a letter, Hudgens promised to stay late at his desk and wait for her call. It never came.

In August, Hudgens told an enthusiastic GOP crowd in Floyd County of his plans for Obamacare in Georgia. “We’re doing everything in our power to be an obstructionist,” he said. The video clip is still circulating.

Georgia Democrats say it has been left to them, and a patchwork of non-profits, to spread the word about Obamacare in Georgia. Their anger over that burden has set them thinking on two fronts.

Democratic success in next year’s U.S. Senate race has been predicated on a hard-right Republican – Paul Broun or Phil Gingrey, perhaps – emerging from a May primary. But in Hudgens, some Georgia Democrats think they have already found their Todd Akin. Akin was the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri whose remarks on “legitimate rape” cost him the race.

Branko Radulovacki, the physician, psychiatrist and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate who goes by “Dr. Rad,” on Tuesday turned out a video condemning Hudgens and the Republican refusal to help guide Georgians through the maze of Obamacare.

“It’s more than irresponsible. It shows a gross lack of compassion for all of us,” Dr. Rad says. “Because whether you have health care or not, you have a right to know what this health care law guarantees you.”

“Everyone has a right to that information,” Dr. Rad said in a follow-up interview on Wednesday. “They’re crossing an ethical, moral and legal line.”

Other Democrats are thinking larger. “We’re going to be above the noise on this,” said newly elected state party chairman DuBose Porter of Dublin. “What Republicans are forgetting is that people need health insurance.”

Hudgens, like all other statewide officials, is up for re-election next year. An out-of-power party normally wouldn’t make the office a high priority. Insurance companies that provide the campaign contributions are loathe to bet against an incumbent.

But Porter and other Democratic leaders are thinking – dreaming, critics might say — of a scenario in which the contest for insurance commissioner is refashioned into a drive to bring Obamacare to Georgia, a cause celebre that could attract national money, rally an Obama-loving Democratic base, and so supplement the U.S. Senate campaign.

Some skepticism on the topic is required. A recent Journal-Constitution poll found that 57 percent of Georgians had a dim view of Obamacare, but more said they like large portions of it. We’ll have to see what a degree of familiarity brings.

Dr. Rad, in our conversation, said he had been approached about becoming the face for this effort by shifting to the race for insurance commissioner. But the psychiatrist said he’s not interested – even though his chief Democratic rival for the Senate nomination, Michelle Nunn, is likely to post much stronger fundraising numbers in the next few days.

“I’m called to run for the U.S. Senate, not just because of health care, but also for other reasons, other issues,” Radulovacki said.

Regardless, Ralph Hudgens now has a target on his back.