Our newest North Carolina poll finds once again that voters are opposed to the health care bill not so much because they don't like what's in it but because Republicans have won the messaging battle.
58% of voters in the state say that they oppose the plan with 35% in support.
But if you ask them about the bill preventing children from being denied health care because of preexisting conditions there's 59/33 support.
If you ask them about giving tax credits to small businesses that provide their employees with health insurance there's 57/37 support.
If you ask them about stopping health insurance companies from putting caps on how much they will cover there's 52/38 support.
If you ask them about eliminating the Medicare 'doughnut hole' there's 51/38 support.
And if you ask them again at the end if they support the health care bill there's a nine point shift in support of the bill. Voters still oppose it by a 39/53 margin but that net -14 is a lot smaller than the -23 when they were first asked the question about two minutes earlier.
If/when health care passes it will not have the support of the public because Democrats have not done a good job of selling it up front. But what these poll results show is that there is a lot in the bill that the voters are happy with, and if it goes into effect the party and its candidates will just have to emphasize those points and try to flip a skeptical public once it has been enacted.
Full results here
So even if you run a push poll you can't get people to favor the health care takeover!?
ReplyDeleteYikes.
Try asking people if they support a massive government takeover of 1/6 of the economy, trillions more government debt and taxes, rationing of health care, and government funding of abortion. Then see if anyone other than the hard core socialists support it.
Voters will often support individual things they're getting, but there's more to a bill than ideas. Staying on mom and dad's insurance until 26 sounds great, but adding someone to mom and dad’s insurance is certain to result in higher rates for mom and dad.
ReplyDeleteHealth insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions or drop people when they become expensive. Great. But adding sick expensive people to my health plan is going to increase my rates.
Subsidies are great, but they only apply to families making less than $73,000 per year. If a couple makes $37,000 each they aren't helped. The people I know who can't afford insurance do better than that.
Then there is the Louisiana Purchase, Cornhusker kickback, Bismarck Earmark, water in the Delta, and other side deals.
The bill is a lot more complicated than a few ideas you put in a poll.
Republicans are winning "the messaging battle" because TRUTH wins out over error.
ReplyDelete