I’m not surprised that support for ObamaCare continues to plunge and that it’s a major problem for Democrats who voted for it – I’ve posted about this several times already – but even I underestimated just how much Americans despise this bill and tie their votes to where candidates stand on this single issue. The Weekly Standard reported on a poll recently conducted by Democratic pollster Douglas Schoen:
What’s the one issue that independent voters most strongly demand that a candidate get right?… the answer is “health care reform.”
Nearly half (48 percent) of all independent voters said that even if a candidate otherwise held perfect views (in the eyes of the voter) — even if they “agreed with him on all other issues” (italics added) — they still couldn’t vote for him “if [they] disagreed with him on health care reform.” (Another 13 percent weren’t sure whether they could abide such a costly error in judgment or not.)
And what must the candidate’s position on health-care reform be? For 83 percent of the respondents who said their vote would hang in the balance, the candidate must oppose Obamacare. So, according to the survey, if you support Obamacare, you’ve just lost 40 percent (83 percent of 48 percent) of the independent vote — before any other issue is even addressed.
Even Bill Clinton admitted he miscalculated when he predicted a surge in support for Democrats the moment they signed the bill into law.
I’ve questioned on this blog why the Republicans don’t make this a bigger issue. They offer tepid support at best for repealing ObamaCare. Well, these poll results should obliterate any remaining doubt about what they should run on (this year and in 2012) and what Americans expect them to do, if they regain control of the House (and Senate). It doesn’t matter if President Obama vetoes a repeal bill; the American people want to see commitment that one of the parties actually understands what we care about it and is willing to stand up for it. And then when the President does sign that veto, he will be set up for massive defeat in 2012 by a candidate who will sign the repeal bill upon taking office.
